Nokia and Microsoft Announcing Partnership

Nokia, the world’s leading mobile phone manufacturer recently announced their partnership with Microsoft. Nokia hopes to boost their market presence in the US with the high-end, smart phone market which is currently dominated by Apple, Android-based devices and a few Windows Mobile 7 phones. The partnership of Nokia and Microsoft will help the Finnish manufacturer develop hardware-capable phones running Windows Mobile 7, while the software giant will provide additional inputs for hardware development.
The announcement is the beginning of a drastic change for Nokia. A leaked letter from Nokia’s CEO, Stephen Elop is a sign that the mobile phone giant is alarmed with its decreasing presence in the high end market. His “burning platform” analogy became a byword within the industry before the big partnership was announced.
There are two things every tech enthusiast will wonder about the partnership. The first is on Symbian and Meego – the two current mobile operating systems Nokia use for their mobile phones. Apparently, Symbian will stay as it is but will ultimately focus on low-end phones. Unfortunately, Meego is going to be used for “learning purposes” which means it’s going to be purely experimental.
The second question is why did Nokia chose Windows Mobile over Android? Stephen Elop used to be part of Microsoft which could have played a big part during the decision. But businesswise, Nokia’s partnership with Android and eventually Google will only crush the mobile phone giant because of Google’s requirement to umbrella everything under its brand. This means Nokia’s services such as OVI store and maps could be scrapped for Android Market Place and Google Maps, respectively. As a company that has led the mobile industry for years, succumbing to another giant is not good business practice.