The announcement came days after a leaked memo from Nokia CEO Stephen Elop hit the press. The memo, which was unusually frank, referred to Nokia as “standing on a burning platform” in the face of competition from Google and Apple. With Symbian barely clinging to its lead in the smartphone space and MeeGo still not shipping, Nokia needed to do something drastic. This is drastic. It’s also Nokia’s only option.
Tomi Ahonen, mobile analyst and former Nokia executive, disagrees (Ahonen also doubted the authenticity of Elop’s memo), but he is one of the few commentators in the wireless industry who actually thinks Nokia’s old smartphone strategy was correct.
The problems Nokia faces are already well documented — most notably by Elop himself — and when looking at its possible options, it becomes clear that partnering with Microsoft is the company’s only hope of reversing course.
Why Not Android?
Before Friday’s announcement, some speculated that Nokia could be announcing that it planned to embrace Google’s Android OS rather than Windows Phone 7. After all, the momentum behind Android shows no signs of slowing down, and with Honeycomb around the corner, the spectrum of Android-based devices continues to increase.
If it were 2008 and not 2011, Android might be a good option for Nokia. Back then, Android was unproven, and handset makers were still waiting things out to see if the platform was worth a significant investment. Companies that aligned with Android early on — like HTC and Motorola — have flourished in the smartphone space.
In 2011, however, the Android ecosystem is crowded. Many of the biggest Android...
