Nokia confirms N9 MeeGo phone not coming to US
arstechnica.com
arstechnica.com
Microsoft has enough business vested all over the place. They don't need mobile to profit. Apple's only real source of income however, is now reduced to iOS-devices only. They need mobile, desperately.
The fact that Apple is already suing left and right, right now, when their platform is going well and they technically shouldn't need to be in any state of despair, that should tell you who to fear the most.
Don't you think it's a bit suspicious a recently hired CEO who was until recently a high profile Microsoft employee discontinues a major platform investment on the eve of launching a competitive product (I have played with the N9 and it's a very good phone) and bets the company on a yet-unproven (and I am being more than generous on this assessment) Microsoft product?
I haven't tried the N9 so I cannot comment on it nor the platform which powered it, only that historically, Nokia's only edge has been good hardware. They have been (and still are, as far as I have seen) absolutely horrible at software.
I would trust a platform made by Microsoft infinitely more than anything coming out of Nokia HQ, and that is despite all the failings of Microsoft in the mobile and tablet space.
Now... With that said: There is no doubt that by going the Microsoft route Nokia is losing something. They are now a generic phone-vendor delivering someone else's OS. They no longer fully own their own platform and stack.
This is quite a significant loss and definitely a big risk. However: Given Nokia's history with delivering software and software-platforms, I think it's a smaller risk than trying (once again) to deliver something made in-house.
And I really don't find it "suspicious" that a recently hired CEO choose to turn to technology and people he already know. I find it a very obvious move, even though it's not very obvious if it is the best choice or not.
Nokia could also be the only Android phone maker that would be completely imune to lawsuits by any other phone maker. And from Microsoft ("It's a shame you are suing us, you know. It would be horrible if we decided to sue all your WinMo 6 and 7 OEMs").
Just to clarify: I never claimed that doing Windows Phone 7 was the better option over than doing Android. I claimed that delivering someone else's OS is probably the wiser bet for Nokia, as historically they've been just awful with software.
And with a CEO coming straight from Microsoft, going the WP7-route instead of doing Android, seems like a pretty obvious and "safe" decision.
I always tell my friends who work for Microsoft to never, ever drink their Kool Aid.
MS may not necessarily need mobile for profit but they need it for growth. These patent royalties are not going to last forever.
"...With Nokia and RIM in collapse and Microsoft failing to gain traction, the smartphone market is increasingly just a two-horse race – Android va. Apple...
...in a survey of usage in 56 countries, Android has reached 48% market share worldwide. Then the comScore figures on US installed base up to June 2011 came out, and report only 40% share here...
...Google is buying patents from IBM, doubtless with the intention of turning the confrontations with Sun and Apple into Mexican standoffs. My evaluation continues to be that the smartphone patent wars will be like a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury but in the end signifying nothing."
I still don't believe this is just a coincidence. I know stupidity is generally rampant but Nokia has become the universe's giant sinkhole of stupidity within the last year or two that it can't have happened but on purpose.
If Nokia continue this way, Finnish economy is going to suffer, a lot.
"Decisions are based on an assessment of existing and upcoming products that make up Nokia's extensive product portfolio and the best way in which to address local market opportunities." The word "upcoming" just keeps popping out at me.
Nokia is going Windows-only in America because that's the only way they can get the carriers to go along. It's that simple.
Both Nokia and Palm/HP have had a very difficult time getting the US carriers to distribute and subsidize their smartphones. They had no interest in adding MeeGo to the lineup, regardless of Elop's decision.
The carriers already know Windows Phone and they have a relationship with Microsoft. Nokia has reportedly committed some serious money for marketing their WP devices in the US. The combined resources of Microsoft and Nokia has certainly got some carriers interested.
Customers who'd want an N9 over all other phones. Why should there be only three slots for people: iOs, Android, Windows Phone (haha, on that third one).
Since when is telling people what they CAN'T have good business? Where's the free in the free market?
Am I wrong in thinking you could just import one yourself? Or is importing mobile phones regulated in the US?
In Europe carriers typically have much less to say. In some countries many people have SIM-only contracts and buy their own unlocked phones from a third party.
If they had any sort of functioning government oversight over the telecoms, that shouldn't be legal.
I would argue this is the norm in most of Europe, not just "some countries".
Only where the telcom business have gone completely unregulated for too long, have the USesque system of carriers controlling phones taken hold.
So basically Nokia is only playing by the rules of the market, and the real problem is US carriers abusing their position. The real problem is US carriers, again.
So much bullshit stems from the way US carriers completely obliterates and perverts the free market, that you would think some government regulation would be heading their way sooner or later. Interesting how that haven't happened yet.