Nokia and Microsoft Team Up in Smartphone Battle

[SandynJosh]

I was hoping for this. Look forward to seeing some great hardware from Nokia with a maturing OS from MS. Lots of models, lots of price points. Fantastic.

You may have missed the memo from the CEO of Nokia. He basically said, It's not just the iPhone or OS that's making Apple so powerful, it's the whole ecosystem of the App Store, the retail outlets, the marketing, the hype, the first mover advantage, and everything rolled up together.

You are back thinking that great hardware and a first-iteration OS is fantastic. MS has only one idea of how to mature an OS and that is to add layers of bells and whistles on to it. While none of that addresses the need for an ecosystem... something you can't go our and buy; you have to grow it, and there's no way to do that except slowly.

Competition = Good.

While competition is good, it also brings on more marketing, and one of the objectives of a lagging company is to create confusion in the buyer's mind so they can snatch market share.

We're going to see a lot of marketing noise in the year to come and it's going to be hard to know what is true and what is smoke and mirrors.

 

[landscapeman]

RIP Symbian

 

[SandynJosh]

This (phone) is just another corporate product. Not for consumers.

You have it backwards. The MW7 phone is only good for teeny-boppers and college students that haven't figured out their major yet.

 

[unwinded]

PCs (and even Macs) are declining, laptops which were growing are declining, tablets and smart phones are on the rise. Everyone keeps saying mobile is the future but mobile is also the present and Microsoft missed the boat. WP7 might be a good phone but they're sharing #3 with everybody that isn't Google and Apple. MS didn't previously take mobile very seriously. They also didn't take tablets very seriously and they had that origami project that failed only to be perfected by Asus and netbooks (which are declining too).

So now they're playing catchup, they made a decent phone and paid half a billion to market it but nobody cares. So this partnership makes a heck of a lot of sense considering globally Nokia is still on top (obviously Symbian has been rapidly declining). They also ported Windows 8 to Arm. MS have a crapton of cash so they can afford to do what they want, but seriously most of that cash is from Windows, Office, and Xbox (I'm not sure Xbox is profitable though). They can't afford to risk the PC declining and falling behind those guys.

 

[SandynJosh]

Who cares if Nokia and Microsoft are doing it in bed?

Roll on iPhone 5

I totally agree with you except that all the action is happening in Ballmer's sauna now.

 

[SandynJosh]

I've also read that Nokia have the rights to modify WP7 more than any other OEM.

So, with that advantage for Nokia, what other smart phone manufacturer would want to continue to build phones for the WP7 OS?? Wouldn't they build Android phones, where the playing field is crowded, but at least level??

 

[snova]

It most definitely has one. Try looking sometime.
No, it doesn't have a million fart and flashlight apps... sorry. Guess Apple wins there.

What do you think and eco-system is?

no you are right. I havent used WM7. It was a serious question.

so now that I have found someone who has.. can you tell me what is the compelling reason for people to pick WM7 over iPhone or Android? I just dont know the motivation here.

 

[SnoFlo]

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I have an E71 and my wife has an iPhone 4. The only thing that is better on the E71 is the battery life. Get real.

This post sums you up well, IQ-wise.

 

[snova]

This post sums you up well, IQ-wise.

not needing to have an IQ is what makes the iPhone better. Anyone can pick it up and start using the majority of the functionality immediately. The E71 has a lot of functionality but its PITA to get to and use. When you do use it, it is either inferior or broken before it was abandoned.


As far as my IQ? your right, its zero. Not sure why you are trying to get personal here. We are talking about phones here. Please calm down.

 

[meatballs]

I love reading the fanboi replys But no matter how you twist it Nokia + WP7 = success

 

[Tunster]

I love reading the fanboi replys But no matter how you twist it Nokia + WP7 = success

Only if they can create a buzz about their products. Nokia will still be out on their own to market and sell, sell, sell. Windows will only be offering WP7 on a plate. I do a agree though, the combo can possibly be very powerful.

WP7 doesn't show the rigid ecosystem Apple currently has. Nokia will need to use their experience and tap into WP7 to push it forward.

Maybe this is Nokia's stop gap to get back on track. Doesn't stop them developing a new OS while WP7 takes front stage for 18 months - 2 years.

I'll be looking forward to seeing the outcome.

 

[cmaier]

I love reading the fanboi replys But no matter how you twist it Nokia + WP7 = success

By the same logic that says turds + crap = apple pie.

 

[Stella]

Maybe this is Nokia's stop gap to get back on track. Doesn't stop them developing a new OS while WP7 takes front stage for 18 months - 2 years.

I'll be looking forward to seeing the outcome.

Nokia will still develop Meego and hope to release a device this year.. so maybe that is a back up plan. Afterwards it appears that Meego will be developed slowly in the background. Maybe a future CEO will see things differently and deem nokia with microsoft a negative thing and revert these changes - push Meego to the foreground.

Either way, Nokia will still need an good ecosystem for Meego, which is lacking for Symbian and there lies the problem. An ecosystem requires 3rd party developers and after today and previous events what developer trust Nokia again?

 

[meatballs]

By the same logic that says turds + crap = apple pie.

You're an American so nobody expects you to understand how big Nokia is worldwide.

 

[foxnews1]

They should've merged with RIM, instead of latching themselves with mobile-loser MS.

RIM and Nokia would've been good for each other. Instead, MS has nothing to lose on this deal, and Nokia has little to win.

I guess that's what happens when you bring a Microsoftie to head Nokia. He clearly still is more concerned about MS's interests that Nokia's.

sorry but your comment is


from financial strength and software expertise perspective, RIM is no where near MS. MS can throw billions dollars of research and giving away software without a scratch. MS can survive this race as long as it takes.

MS is not a loser like you think. if you ask Google and Apple that who they fear the most, they will tell you that it is MS. Google CEO admitted it recently.

Nokia bring MS executive in is the first step to tie the relationship between the largest hardware and largest Software company.

this news will definitely makes Google and Apple a loss night of sleep. in a real war, you don't want two of your enemies to team up. Both have deep pocket and global distribution/partnership. MS will spend money to buy and attract developers to their ecosysem, like their dominate xbox ecosystem.

this is also a very good news for us, the consumers. we will get better phones/apps cheaper and faster. Apple can't afford to take a whole year to update and charge premium.

 

[AppleScruff1]

are the dots really that hard to connect?

The largest os in the world has teamed up with the largest mobile phone maker in the world to etch away market share from apple.

Less confused now?

lol!

 

[AppleScruff1]

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I use Bing all the time... Still, the windows smartphone software is ridiculoysly terrible. Bottom line is *nobody* will *ever* have the array of digital products AAPL has to offer. Right now its a little confusing but AAPL shines the way through, and as the competitors fail, people will be glad yet still that they made the right choice with AAPL all along I don't see why any company even tries to compete... They honestly have no chance.

Ps. Buy AAPL on *any* decline in share price. It is surely going to $450.00 per share.

Maybe Apple should be the only company on earth and make everything so that people would have no choice? That would be great...for a sheep. An iSheep. Baaaaaaaaaaaaa Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

 

[snova]

You're an American so nobody expects you to understand how big Nokia is worldwide.

Im an American but I travel all over and am actually in the handset business.
You are right Nokia has failed to have much success with US Carriers. Therefore many Americans can not appreciate the market share of Nokia in places like Europe.

However, in Asia Pacific, Nokia is rapidly dying. The cheap Nokia end is being replaced by even cheaper handsets made by Chinese companies like ZTE and Huawei. The high end is being dominated by the Koreans and Taiwanese (Samsung, LG, HTC).

Some travel to that portion of the world would be very enlightening for Nokia fans in Europe, as to why Nokia is in a panic. They are being squeezed out entirely, both from the low end and high end.

 

[cube]

My current phone just became my only and last Nokia now.

 

[AppleScruff1]

I'm not one of these Mac users who hopes for the failure of any of Apple's competitors but this just seems like such a bad idea. Two companies that are rapidly losing their footing in the new mobile space are hitching themselves together. Reminds me of the Blockbuster/Circuit City merger.

Except that neither Microsoft nor Nokia is in financial trouble. Largest software company with the largest phone manufacturer. How is this a bad idea? Each brings something to the table that the other needs.

 

[faroZ06]

I'm gonna laugh at what they make. The Windows phone is some garbage MS and others keep pouring money into...

 

[faroZ06]

lol!

MS is gonna die. Windows OSs are horribly made. They're stuck in a pit.

Who cares how big they are? They're just gonna lose to Apple like they have been for a while now.

 

[firewood]

Competition for HP/webOS

This isn't a competitor for Apple or Google (at least for years from now).

This is competition for the #3 and #4 spots between Nokia, RIM and HP/Palm.

HP knows hardware and software and enterprise and is vertically integrated with their own manufacturing supply chain and consumer distribution channels. HP close to invented the programmable mobile device (advanced calculator, 100LX, etc.) Palm has a history of disciplined UI design. There likely won't be as much infighting within a unified HP/Palm as there will be between Nokia and MS for control of the product roadmap.

So I give the advantage for getting the #3 spot in the smartphone ecosystem to HP.

Nokia has jumped, so on the longer term MS+Nokia may eventually end up merging at the #4 spot, unless RIM gets some major software chops (for which there is no evidence currently).

What large and competent consumer software franchise is left for RIM to partner with? They are the ones standing in a fire with no extinguisher is sight right now.

 

[AppleScruff1]

MS is gonna die. Windows OSs are horribly made. They're stuck in a pit.

Who cares how big they are? They're just gonna lose to Apple like they have been for a while now.

Ignorance is bliss, isn't it?

 

[meatballs]

MS is gonna die. Windows OSs are horribly made. They're stuck in a pit.

Who cares how big they are? They're just gonna lose to Apple like they have been for a while now.

Typical knee-jerk fanboi reply I'm pretty sure cares very much about this new partnership. Maybe Nokia will continue having a hard time on the US market but worldwide no.