IT Support | Microsoft And Nokia Sitting In A Tree?
Posted by The Blogging Desk on Mon, Feb 07, 2011
Engadget(image as well):
Nokia's had an outward appearance of spinning its platform wheels on the backs of Symbian and Maemofor far, far too long, but so far, nothing's materialized. This time around, it's said that Microsoft will be the partner announced on the 11th -- and though Nokia's uptake of Windows Phone 7 would be the obvious strategic shift, it's important to note that these companies have actually partnered before with pretty trivial consequences for the market; it's entirely possible they could be ramping up to do that again, sharing apps and services between Windows Phone 7 and Symbian / MeeGo.
Show of hands; who has a Windows Phone 7? Oh, that's right.
But seriously, folks. If the recent lack of actual sales numbers from Microsoft are any indication, they could really use the help. MS says they've sold around 2 million units to OEMs, but that doesn't mean 2 million people are actually using the phones themselves. There could still be about 1 million phones sitting on the shelves somewhere.
So that brings us to Nokia. They're still the big cheese oversees and in emerging markets but what have they done for me lately? They have two mobile operation systems in Symbian and Meego. Meego is able to be thrown onto everything from refrigerators to car dashboards but has yet to make an actual impact. Symbian is just flat out long in the tooth. Would Nokia drop one of these OS's in order to fully support Windows Phone 7?
The sticking point mentioned in the Engadget post is that the new CEO of Nokia comes right from Microsoft. If he's quick on his feet, he'll want to start making some cash quick with Nokia and WP7 may be their best bet.
I think Nokia needs Microsoft just as badly as Microsoft needs Nokia. In the end, the real winner here would be enterprise users. They'd get a host of new phones while still being able to use Microsoft's fantastic Exchange and Office features. Which, by the way, we'd be happy to set-up for your business!
