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Why Nokia chose WP7 over Android?

Name: Why Nokia chose WP7 over Android?
Brand: Nokia
Rating: 4 (1 reviews)

Abe Olandres February 12, 2011 · 2 min read

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While some people are excited about the adoption of Windows Phone 7 into the Nokia family, others are also disappointed why Android wasn’t picked by the Finnish company.

Android is obviously the more mature mobile platform compared to Windows Phone and the number of apps available in the Android Market are also miles away compared to the Microsoft Zune Store.

So the questions remains, why WP7 and not Android? Here are some of my thoughts.

Elop’s career background played a huge role with the decision to go WP7 as he used to be a top Microsoft executive and may still have a lot of allies and friends inside the Redmond complex (including Steve Ballmer himself). His bias towards Windows Phone 7 is expected and being the new gung-ho CEO of Nokia hasn’t diminished that.

Second, the shift in direction isn’t solely leveraged on WP7 alone. Nokia will still make Symbian phones in their entry-level to mid-range handsets while Windows Phone will be installed on flagship and high-end phones (partly due to the hardware requirements).

With Microsoft, Nokia has very little to no significant conflicts of interest and products unlike Google. Had Nokia chosen Android, Ovi Maps will be replaced by Google Maps and the Ovi Store will be totally scrapped in favor of the Android Market. These are huge investments that Nokia made recently and won’t still be willing to let go just to embrace Android.

The Nokia and Microsoft partnership looks like an equitable (dare I say win-win) arrangement — neither one of the two parties is too dominant over the other. Microsoft has a little bit of edge in terms of how far its WP7 platform will move forward while Nokia will benefit a lot from all the marketing budget that Microsoft will infuse into the pool as well as support for enterprise clients (MS Exchange, Outlook and Bing).

Let’s not also discount the fact that Android has a lot of patent problems plaguing it (primarily from Apple) and that might be something Nokia does not want to inherit. With WP, Nokia can be a dominant player in that platform without much competition.

Nokia will not be getting any premium or special treatment from Google unlike what it’s getting from Microsoft. Nokia already got the nod of Microsoft to customize the UI of WP7, a feature Microsoft did not extend to other previous handset manufacturers. Speaks “volumes” of favoritism.

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Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

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198 Comments

turds · 15 years ago

wp8 ang makukuha nila, hindi w7.

Microsoft is vindicated (bill gates vs symbian many years ago)

Nygel · 15 years ago

Android is very Dominant OS today. Almost every manufacturer has android. As what is mentioned above there are lots of cons for nokia in Android. PLUS Stephen Elop is an EX Microsoft he may use this as an advantage for NOKIA like whats happening to SAMSUNG-GOOGLE tie up making NOKIA favorable and have exclusive contents with MOS.

JALAL · 15 years ago

Nokia is of right choice. Why not Android? It’s gonna be tough for them to sell Android because of the presently available high-end and mid-range Android devices from various manufacturers. Incase you do not like modified WP7 powered Nokia, Android phones are ready for grab from Asus to ZTE. What modifications Nokia will do on WP7?
>integrate their imaging prowess into the OS.
>modify UI to be different from already available WP7 phones.
>add Nokia maps into the OS.
>modify the OS so that it could run in mid-range devices.

BTW, WP7 has the best Office suites.

ranger · 15 years ago

Does this look gay to you?

http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/36/m_11b4dd8a061c6582d63fc8bc7d122909.jpg

Yes, it does.

ranger · 15 years ago

@Domob

Yup, and gay as well.

domob · 15 years ago

@ranger

Excuse me, so “putanginang hater” ako?

ranger · 15 years ago

Yeah, dami lang sigurong mga putanginang haters kasi puro US blog ang binabasa nila. Twits.

Epstein · 15 years ago

If Nokia chooses Android, what do you think will happen to Meego?

Jeric · 15 years ago

For me it will be good for the consumers, more phones, more choices, and if the prices are good for Nokia with WP7, then probably it would be my next phone, naka feature phone lang pala ako na SE.

Plus ang dami na ng android devices, agree ako that they will be lost at sea with all the android phones. halos pare-pareho lang.

I’m sure threatened lang yung Android and iOS dahil dito. Ang laki ata ng market ng nokia internationally. Sa america lang sila almost non-existent. America is not the whole world.

ranger · 15 years ago

@Pukeman

“A well-thought out coup”

Precisely. Not every coup is bad. Some often lead companies to greater heights.

Pukeman · 15 years ago

In one fell swoop, Microsoft has gained a new division; what a coup. To be fair, Nokia was the one to initiate the move in its desperation to get off the burning platform. Hmmm, but as the situation develops, with the replacement of the President of Nokia America, this appears more and more like a well-thought out coup than a desperate and hasty decision.
A more apt analogy would be that between MS and Nokia, they can now compete in a 3-legged race.

KImkae77 · 15 years ago

Guys, just be ready with your pocket… nabasa nyo naman that these units coming from nokia + WP7 are high-ends…..(WP7 will be installed on flagship and high-end phones (partly due to the high hardware requirements).

naalala nyo pa ba nung lumabas yung nokia 3210?….
ang mahal di ba?

ranger · 15 years ago

@Jhay

you stupid twit

Jhay · 15 years ago

Come to think of it, Nokia does suck and all of their products. The intervention of Microsoft was a good thing. Who cares if the Americans supplant these Finnish bastards. All they’re worth for is hardware, nothing else. Symbian, Meego — meh!

kenneth · 15 years ago

ako ang gusto ko lang bumilis ang nokia in terms of hardware and software usage. magkaron ng magandang ui at microsoft office. pangit kasi ang quick office. tapos ok na ok kung maging windows phone 7 and nokia c7 ko. kya nga ako nag nokia kasi ngarag na ngarag na ako sa mga taong bukang bibig e android. san ba kayo nagsimula? sino ba nagsimula? diba nokia? sana lang magkaron ng mabilis na development ang symbian 3 at maayos na ang bug fixes ng matahimik un mga nokia user na android ang bukang bibig.

Philippe Villareal · 15 years ago

Nokia is trying to be different from the other companies like Samsung, LG, Motorola and HTC. If Nokia tries to plunge for Android, how is it going to differ from them.

I think MS is a good leverage in the sense that they are the largest competitor of iOS (Apple) and I don’t think Google as an OS could deliver as well as MS.

thenonhacker · 15 years ago

Business is Business.

Remember what happened to Yahoo when they refused the offer from Microsoft. Yahoo ended up begged for MS to reconsider buying.

Yeah, the Symbian and MeeGo developers will definitely be screwed and not gonna like the phase out *REGARDLESS OF NOKIA SWITCHING TO ANDROID OR WP7*

Nokia switching away from Symbian/Meego — Yes that will generate a coup. If I’m a Symbian/Meego developer in Nokia, I know I have to distribute my resume to Apple, Google, and RIM.

oktnxbai · 15 years ago

RIP Symbian^3 and MeeGo(Sort of).

Jologs · 15 years ago

@the nonhacker – exactly! MS gave the dying Nokia a fighting chance and I can hardly wait for the WP7 phones that they dish out!

Jhay · 15 years ago

Like what I said, a MS coup inside Nokia. Let’s just wait for what will come out of this new partnership.

tortalong · 15 years ago

that pimp elop is the 7th biggest microsoft shareholder. think about it.

thenonhacker · 15 years ago

@All:

When you read between the lines, you know that you give a damn about the Nokia-Microsoft partnership. You give a damn because you know they will be competitive against Apple and Google.

You donâ€™t give a damn on Blackberry. But you gave a good damn of Nokia and Microsoft, like you know they will succeed.

Because if you know they wonâ€™t succeed, you wonâ€™t give a big damn about it.

thenonhacker · 15 years ago

@Fleeb: hahaha, may mga tao palang ganun, namemersonal sa companies. :D

When you read between the lines, you know that you give a damn about the Nokia-Microsoft partnership. You give a damn because you know they will be competitive against Apple and Google.

You don’t give a damn on Blackberry. But you gave a good damn of Nokia and Microsoft, like you know they will succeed.

Because if you know they won’t succeed, you won’t give a big damn about it.

Fleeb · 15 years ago

This is Nokia’s decision. Let’s wait for the year end before getting angry at Nokia. If Nokia fails, then it fails. I think that’s just how open market works.

Jologs · 15 years ago

Another thing, kudos to ELOP for having the balls to make this change happen!

Jologs · 15 years ago

I think the partnership makes sense. Android is already saturated with so many phones. WP7 is fairly new, seems like a good OS, but I can see that it will mature in time.

I am an iOS fan myself but I think that once WP7 reaches its maturity, it might have the power to make me rethink my choice of OS, something that Android had failed to do so far, in spite of the fact that I once ownED an HTC Desire.

Nokia + WP7 = FTW!!!

vance · 15 years ago

well, do you expect Nokia to partner with google after google mock Nokia before this was announced!!! Yes google mock them after Nokia CEO’s memo was leaked!

thenonhacker · 15 years ago

@Kyle: You should read the article again, and set aside your Anti-MS bias:

1. Forte ng Nokia is hardware.

2. Weakness ng Nokia ang software. Symbian didn’t catchup with Apple iOS, and Meego is the betrayal of Symbian. The only logical move is WP7 or Android.

3. Google is tough company to deal with, laglag ang mga naki-license sa kanila ng Android. If a company licenses Android, the company is liable on patent lawsuits, and Google will just lay back.

4. Nokia is the very first company na puwedeng mag-customize ng WP7. Hindi HTC, Hindi Samsung. If MS is tough, di sana di rin nila pinayagan mag-customize ang Nokia.

5. Nobody said that Nokia won’t also support Android later. Kaya cool ka lang. Or, vote with your wallet, and stop buying Nokia phones kung talagang pinepersonal mo ang Microsoft at Nokia, ganun kasimple. :P

thenonhacker · 15 years ago

Bakit ang daming bitter dito na Android fans?

Binasa nyo ba ang article? Ang solid ng points, and all you’re saying is “They should have choson Android”?

The competition is good for the consumers, people. Maganday yan, Apple, Microsoft, and Google trying to do things to win the hearts of the customers, pasiklaban ang laban.

Kyle · 15 years ago

I have to disagree with Yuga on these. It seems that Microsoft is the only winner with this one. Nokia is abandoning it’s primary platform and shifting towards windows phone 7 is not practical. I bet the symbian and internal meego department are preparing their resumes now for other companies since it will only take time for the platform to be deprecated. It will take too much cost for nokia in adopting new technologies.Plus microsoft is a tough company to deal with

enrico · 15 years ago

haters makes them famous.. :D

Randolf Arevalo · 15 years ago

I wouldn’t mind going back to Nokia after a few years if they will have a mid-range Nokia WP7 available!

This is EXCITING!!! WOOHOO

Rey · 15 years ago

This arrangement is a big win for M$ and kind of a big loss for Nokia.

Nokia just relegated all its developers as 2nd class citizens by making WP7 as the OS for their flagship phones. Imagine all those Qt developers out of a job. If they didn’t lose their jobs, they’re going to have to be retrained in the ways of M$. This will take 18 months or so according to the sched of Nokia.

In that time a lot of things can happen. So it’s going to be a really slow start for Nokia.

Although I do love the design of the upcoming Nokia WP7 phone. Very sleek. I generally don’t like the designs of Nokia but this one seems like a winner.

Nokia should have gone with Android and WP7.

domob · 15 years ago

@Gumz

In Yuga’s previous post about WP7 and Nokia’s tie-up, you mentioned:

“Two collaboration of losers in smartphone industry equals one winner? hmmmmmmm!!! doubtfulâ€¦”

I can assume that you’re either a mental case or seeking attention. Either way, you’re a failure.

Kyle · 15 years ago

@yuga what patent problems does google have over apple? I was thinking it’s oracle since google use tweaked jvm to run it’s own dalvik vm over their products…

raul barrios · 15 years ago

A very good point Yuga. Very enlightening indeed.

Gumz · 15 years ago

huge step from nokia… i agree that this is a win-win situation for them… nokia need not to sacrifice a lot of their investment… If this tie-up works-out in attracting more developers, sure threatens android and ios…

healthy competition…

Mamayang Pilipino · 15 years ago

This really happens for a reason

Drag0nh3art76 · 15 years ago

Well just see what happens, WP7 will mature; in time.

Carlo · 15 years ago

Nice observations sir Yuga. Really makes sense for both companies to tie-up.

camhiliciouz · 15 years ago

i agree with Paul..

let’s hope with this, prices of smartphones will go down…

but let’s expect our phones to be out”dated” by new innovations…

hahaha. bilis maglabas ng mga bago noh?

Fleeb · 15 years ago

So much for people saying the “Nokia is Finnished…”

forgetmenot · 15 years ago

*i can’t wait to get my hands on – oh whatever! i just want the phone now!

i’m currently looking at samsung focus but might wait a bit for a nokia phone given that it has a front facing camera and skype has released a WP7 app, that’s all i need.