When Nokia decided its Symbian operating system wasn't the path to success in the smartphone market and started looking for outside options, it found two major suitors: Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 and Google's Android.
The Friday before Valentine's Day, Nokia announced it was hooking up with Microsoft. Will this marriage work? Strategic News Service publisher Mark Anderson says this deal may not be the best thing that ever happened to Nokia, but it won't be the worst.
The main disadvantage of this relationship? Mark says Windows Phone 7 has, according to various estimates, only 2% to 7% market share. Android would have given Nokia a much, much bigger slice of the smartphone pie.
But Mark says Microsoft offers some advantages over Google:
- Product support
- Developer support
- Customer support
Coupled with Nokia's ability to manufacture huge volumes of phones, Mark says there's a decent chance this alliance could turn out to be a winning combination.
Wondering why Nokia needs this relationship? Take a look at Nokia CEO Stephen Elop's burning platform memo at Engadget.