Nokia and Microsoft: need for speed is paramount.

Stuart Corner
Sunday, 13 February 2011 21:50

Opinion and Analysis

To stretch a metaphor: the engagement between Microsoft and Nokia has been announced with promises of great things but unless this relationship is swiftly consummated and progeny produced all will be in vain, for rivals' offspring have already been thrust out into the big wide world and are maturing rapidly.

Amidst the myriad commentary and analysis of the Nokia Microsoft deal there seems to be one consensus: Nokia had to throw its lot in with Windows Mobile or Android: the point at which it might have been able to mount a credible Symbian-based challenge to the onslaught of Apple and Android has long passed.

There is also general consensus that the deal will be good for Microsoft. That's not surprising. Microsoft has consistently struggled to gain traction for the various incarnations of its mobile operating systems. Nokia's huge experience, intellectual resources and strength in the mobile market will give Microsoft a huge boost (albeit possibly at the expense of disenfranchising other handset makers that product Windows Mobile based handsets.)

The benefits for Nokia are rather more questionable, although it's probably fair to say it did not have a lot of choice: going with Android would have reduced the one time smartphone market leader to just another maker of Android based handsets (which are rapidly plummeting in price."

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop is reported to have said he feared it would be too difficult for Nokia to differentiate itself in the Android ecosystem. He's quoted saying: "It felt a little bit like giving up and not enough like fighting back."

Elop and Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, concluded a joint open letter on the alliance by saying: "There are other mobile ecosystems. We will disrupt them. There will be challenges. We will overcome them. Success requires speed. We will be swift. Together, we see the opportunity, and we have the will, the resources and the drive to succeed."

Fighting words indeed. While they certainly have the resources, and the drive to succeed, they have to bring a whole community of people inside and outside Nokia along with them. And from the postings on the various blogs I have seen there is not a lot of enthusiasm for this deal, and not a lot of trust that Elop is acting in the best interests of Nokia rather than Microsoft.

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