Nokia Android Phone Possible
Did you know this was Windows Phone?
Nokia has been up to its neck in Windows Phone for a while now and it’s not exactly a great place to be. In Q4 of 2013 Microsoft announced a surge in their smartphone OS sales reporting four times their previous footprint. And while the relative increase of 5% market share to 20% is remarkable as reported by AdDuplex, a cross-promotion network specifically targeted at Windows 8 and Windows Phone apps, Microsoft has a ways to go.
The China Syndrome
Last month China Mobile and Nokia signed a deal to offer the Lumia 920T, a phone powered by Windows Phone 8, in China. With a population of 1.3 billion and over 700 million subscribers already using China Mobile, Windows Phone 8 may get a steroid-sized lift in the very near future. Add to this the fact that Microsoft has signed a deal directly with China Unicom to use Windows Phone in the Chinese market and you increase the likelihood of massive market penetration in that area. China Unicom has over 65 million subscribers.
So shortly after all this good news about Nokia jumping in bed with China Mobile sporting Windows Phone 8, and dreams of a Microsoft dominated Chinese mobile market dance in our heads, we see that Nokia has started talking about Android. Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia, told El Pais today that the company is still evaluating options for the future and that, “In the current ecosystem wars we are using Windows Phone as our weapon”. Elop continued “But we are always thinking about what’s coming next, what will be the role of HTML 5, Android… Today we are committed and satisfied with Microsoft, but anything is possible.”
Steve Ballmer is not an Android fan.
For once Microsoft may wish that anything was not possible if it means a Nokia Android Phone. U.S. sales of Windows Phone 8 have never been anywhere near expectations, and this new China deal could turn that frown upside down as long as Nokia stays in bed. Remove Nokia from the mix and the outlook changes dramatically.
ETA on Nokia Android Phone
Elop’s statement might simply be positioning for some potential project way down the road because up to now Nokia has been firmly in Microsoft court. Nokia lovers have lit up the Internet with demands for an Android powered Lumina and they never got one so to expect that to change in the very near future is unlikely. Nokia might be crazy about Microsoft for some reason, but it could also be the fact that direct competition with Samsung is unattractive to anyone under the best of conditions.
