Why was Nokia reluctant to adopt Android?

[adder7712]

Think about it, why didn't Nokia switch to Android? They probably wouldn't in their current position if they chose to adopt Android. Partnering with Microsoft isn't that fruitful from the looks of it.

Just imagine the Nokia Lumia 920 but with Android, that would be really sexy.

 

[sk1wbw]

Microsoft gave them quite a bit of money, so there you have it. I agree with you though. Windows Phone is awful.

 

[ChazUK]

Mr Elop.

A modern day Microsoft Trojan horse. I'm sure over time things will sort themselves out but Nokia have fallen way behind from their once dominant position.

I'd buy Nokia Android hardware in a heartbeat and do think their Lumia line of smartphones are great, Windows Phone included

Once the WP ecosystem picks up, Nokia will be the premier Windows Phone OEM. HTC, Samsung, ZTE and Huawei can't compete with Nokia engineering.

 

[cube]

Nokia didn't need Android, much less Windows.

 

[ChrisTX]

Nokia didn't need Android, much less Windows.

They needed SOMETHING. They were losing money either way. But agreed with the second poster, MS paid them to use Windows Phone instead of Android. Symbian was a dying OS with no hope left.

 

[cube]

They needed SOMETHING. They were losing money either way. But agreed with the second poster, MS paid them to use Windows Phone instead of Android. Symbian was a dying OS with no hope left.

They had been developing their new next generation OSes for years. The high end one was ready and with products until The Destroyer ruined everything.

The pittance MS money was no reason. Now Nokia pays more in licenses and they have made a lot of patent usage gifts.

They were not losing money when they decided to go for Windows. Sales were up, profits were up, ASP was up.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

So much FUD and hatred, really guys?

It's because of 2 factors:

1) If Nokia went with Android, they would just "just another android manufacturer", along the lines of HTC. Not Samsung, HTC. That's not a good place to be right now ever.

2) Microsoft needed a partner, and was willing to pay $$$.

Personally I think it worked out pretty well for them, as they're the number 1 Windows Phone manufacturer. Interestingly enough, the only other notable WP manufacturer is another company that went Android and had it not work out - HTC.

I suppose they could have continued development on their Meego OS, but it was doomed, delayed, and buggy as hell. Related reading here and here

 

[cube]

So much FUD and hatred, really guys?

It's because of 2 factors:

1) If Nokia went with Android, they would just "just another android manufacturer", along the lines of HTC. Not Samsung, HTC. That's not a good place to be right now ever.

2) Microsoft needed a partner, and was willing to pay $$$.

Personally I think it worked out pretty well for them, as they're the number 1 Windows Phone manufacturer. Interestingly enough, the only other notable WP manufacturer is another company that went Android and had it not work out - HTC.

I suppose they could have continued development on their Meego OS, but it was doomed, delayed, and buggy as hell. Related reading here and here

Yes, "going really well". From #1 smartphone with Symbian at 30% marketshare before the meltdown to low single digits with Windows.

Meego was ready and the single device that was allowed to be sold IN MINOR MARKETS was getting rave reviews and selling more than WP even if stillborn.

The little MS money given was no real reason.

 

[Sincci]

Yes, "going really well". From #1 smartphone with Symbian at 30% marketshare before the meltdown to low single digits with Windows.

Meego was ready and the single device that was allowed to be sold IN MINOR MARKETS was getting rave reviews and selling more than WP even if stillborn.

The little MS money given was no real reason.

And nowadays MS doesn't give any money to Nokia at all, it's completely the other way around. Nokia is "just another Windows Phone manufacturer" along with HTC, Samsung and Huawei, they cannot customize their hardware (except the casing) or OS at all and now MS is even giving Nokia's maps and other software for free to every other manufacturer.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Yes, "going really well". From #1 smartphone with Symbian at 30% marketshare before the meltdown to low single digits with Windows.

Meego was ready and the single device that was allowed to be sold IN MINOR MARKETS was getting rave reviews and selling more than WP even if stillborn.

The little MS money given was no real reason.

While you may be right, bloomburg disagrees.

 

[sentinelsx]

I would have loved them if they kept pushing forward on meego.

Part of the reason I refuse to buy the lumias is just that, I liked meego better than windows phone. The metro theme is just not for me.

That's why I would rather see bb10 come up and grab the third or even first or second spot. The swiping meego like elements look better to me than blocky interface of windows phone.

 

[zbarvian]

How many Android OEMs are actually really profitable? Not many. Nokia wanted to differentiate itself and put stock in Windows Phone, but to no success. I think what the industry is realizing is that the majority of consumers tend to gravitate to a very small number of handset makers, in our case Samsung and Apple.

 

[MRU]

I would have loved them if they kept pushing forward on meego.
.

I had the N9. But they hardly 'pushed forward' on meego ever unfortunately. It was announced dead by Nokia before the phone actually launched in many locations. Thats not so much pushing forward as just releasing something because they had already manufactured them....

 

[scott craft]

In the android world Nokia would be just another face in the crowd. As it is Nokia is the Samsung of Windows Phone by a huge margin. As the Windows Phone platform grows (albeit slowly) Nokia will be fine. I doubt they will ever reach Samsung or Apple status, but they will be a profitable company.

 

[Cod3rror]

Nokia are idiots, simple as that. There is no other answer.

Symbian was an absolute disaster. Who signed off on the release of the software on that phone to end consumers?

Nokia could get away with terrible software while the big players were not in the game. Once the technology got to a point where Apple got interested and then Google, Nokia was done; and from that point was nothing but an OEM.

Interestingly, customers still wanted the N9, the demand was high, yet what happened? They limited the N9 and instead told people to buy Lumia 800 garbage.

They could've easily released a WP and an Android and let the customers decide what they want to support. I mean, that's what they do, phones. HTC manages to release on both platforms as does Samsung, yet Nokia cannot.

How about their latest blunder? "HERE Maps" first of all, who came up and then who approved of that idiotic name? Next they completely failed to make the product interested, they released an extremely sub-par software on the iTunes and it sank in rankings like a rock. Recently the head of "HERE Maps" left Nokia.

Damian Dinning, the guy responsible for cameras on Nokia left Nokia. It's a sinking ship.

It's a wonder how Nokia is still around, they have made a mistake after mistake, after mistake... it's their extremely, albeit now quickly shrinking loyal fan base that kept them around for so long.

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In the android world Nokia would be just another face in the crowd. As it is Nokia is the Samsung of Windows Phone by a huge margin. As the Windows Phone platform grows (albeit slowly) Nokia will be fine. I doubt they will ever reach Samsung or Apple status, but they will be a profitable company.

If Windows Phone grows(doubt it), Samsung will quickly jump on that ship and out manufacture Nokia with ease.

 

[Michael Goff]

As someone else said, with Android they'd be "just another Android phone maker". And Android isn't some magic money printer.

Edit: As for Windows Phone growth and Nokia, they have roughly 70% of all sales because they make the best Windows Phones.

 

[ChrisTX]

They had been developing their new next generation OSes for years. The high end one was ready and with products until The Destroyer ruined everything.

The pittance MS money was no reason. Now Nokia pays more in licenses and they have made a lot of patent usage gifts.

They were not losing money when they decided to go for Windows. Sales were up, profits were up, ASP was up.

I always forget about Meego. That would have been a sweet mobile OS.

 

[Cod3rror]

As someone else said, with Android they'd be "just another Android phone maker". And Android isn't some magic money printer.

Edit: As for Windows Phone growth and Nokia, they have roughly 70% of all sales because they make the best Windows Phones.

No, they really would not.

While they are horribly disorganised and detached from reality. They can still make amazing designs, they have great cameras and they've got the mindshare.

All those Symbian fans that refused to jump to the locked down Windows Phone, would make the jump to Android.

All Nokia has to do is: Release a polycarbonate phone like 800/920 with Android and the PureView camera from 808. It's going to sell amazingly!

Also, unlike on Windows Phone, on Android, they'll be able to customise or create their own skin, as well as the camera app itself and give it all the options they want.

 

[Oohara]

I guess Microsoft has them by the balls. Too bad, I wouldn't mind a Lumia with Android on it. Love the design, love the camera, love the screens and love the build quality. They'd have enough to stand out from the rest of the Android crowd.

 

[adder7712]

No, they really would not.

While they are horribly disorganised and detached from reality. They can still make amazing designs, they have great cameras and they've got the mindshare.

All those Symbian fans that refused to jump to the locked down Windows Phone, would make the jump to Android.

All Nokia has to do is: Release a polycarbonate phone like 800/920 with Android and the PureView camera from 808. It's going to sell amazingly!

Also, unlike on Windows Phone, on Android, they'll be able to customise or create their own skin, as well as the camera app itself and give it all the options they want.

And they could also toss in their own navigation solution. I bet Google wouldn't mind.

 

[scott craft]

If Windows Phone grows(doubt it), Samsung will quickly jump on that ship and out manufacture Nokia with ease.

I totally agree that Samsung could out perform Nokia on Windows Phone. I don't see Nokia being anything special other than cameras and design. After owning a Lumia 822 and now an HTC 8X I don't think Nokia really has that much going for it that other companies can't match. Nokia has lots of exclusive apps and their phones look really nice but reading through a site like WPCentral you can see that Nokia has just as many if not more problems with their phones as other companies. That's another reason I'm not convinced Nokia would be able to stand out in the android crowd when competing against devices like the HTC One and the GS4.

 

[ChazUK]

Nokia has lots of exclusive apps and their phones look really nice but reading through a site like WPCentral you can see that Nokia has just as many if not more problems with their phones as other companies.

Whenever I read WPCentral (the comments section at least) I'm surprised at how much hate there is for Samsung from the WP community there.

Lots of love for Nokia and some praises for HTC (but even they weren't spared from being accused if copying Nokia with the HTC 8x/8s with its garishly bright colour selection). The HTC One reveal saw more cries of copying Nokia thanks to the camera tech involved.

The most promising thing I've seen is the vocal support of Nokia from the WP community. They really seem to be loved by some WP fans.

Hopefully this will translate into success but being the best in a small piece of pie will never help reach Samsung's level of market penetration the way it is now. Something needs to change.

 

[scott craft]

Whenever I read WPCentral (the comments section at least) I'm surprised at how much hate there is for Samsung from the WP community there.

Lots of love for Nokia and some praises for HTC (but even they weren't spared from being accused if copying Nokia with the HTC 8x/8s with its garishly bright colour selection). The HTC One reveal saw more cries of copying Nokia thanks to the camera tech involved.

The most promising thing I've seen is the vocal support of Nokia from the WP community. They really seem to be loved by some WP fans.

Hopefully this will translate into success but being the best in a small piece of pie will never help reach Samsung's level of market penetration the way it is now. Something needs to change.

Many in the Windows Phone community are disappointed that Samsung hasn't shown the interest in WP8 as they did with WP7. Samsung had several quality phones for WP7, but the only high end WP8 they have made ( the Ativ S) isn't available in the US and the only WP8 that is available is the low end Ativ Odyssey on Verizon.

In the WP community Nokia has near Apple-like status. Nokia has lots of exclusive apps and updates them frequently, so most feel that Nokia is putting forth more of an effort for Windows Phone than HTC. As far as Nokia and market penetration I think they will never do as well as they could until they release their flagship phone on all carriers at the same time. I have seen an article on WPCentral that the Lumia 822 on Verizon is selling better than the 920 on AT&T, so I very well could be wrong about that.

 

[maflynn]

Stephen Elop was and is very critical of Android. Back before the deal with MS, they emphatically denied that Nokia would go to Android.

I don't know what Nokia would have done if MS hadn't approached them, but they did and so Nokia now produces win8 phones. I have to say their designs are remarkable and they've worked hard at trying to claw out some marketshare.

 

[Breaking Good]

Just my $0.02, but I don't believe that Nokia's problems had anything to do with either Windows or Android, but with instead itself.

Nokia made cell phones and simply did not realize how fast technology and the market was moving towards Smartphones. by the time they did, they were behind and needed to desperately catch up.

Microsoft Windows Phone OS seemed like a logical choice to differentiate themselves and carve out a decent market share. Unfortunately, Nokia failed to realize how bad Microsoft had poisoned the Windows brand with 30 years of a crappy computer OS.