Nokia N97 Review: Nokia Is Doomed
The N97 is Nokia's attempt to stand tall in an unfamiliar, hostile world populated by the iPhone, Pre and Android the only way it knows how: by throwing the kitchen sink at them. If this is it, they're doomed. — Okay, maybe you don't think that's true …
Context & Ripple Effects
The review lands six months after the better part of Nokia's smartphone roadmap went on display, when the company was positioning itself across every tier of the handset market at once. The N97 is the top of that pyramid: a flagship loaded with a resistive touchscreen, slide-out keyboard, and bundled Skype software — Gizmodo's verdict is that it answers the iPhone, Palm Pre, and Android by adding features rather than rethinking the platform.
The timing compounds the problem. Nokia has denied it is working on an Android phone, leaving Symbian as its only OS answer, and the Comes With Music service meant to differentiate its devices has drawn just 23,000 British subscribers since launch, per Music Ally. A panned flagship on top of a stalled services bet is what makes the review's 'doomed' framing land beyond one bad product.
First-order effects
- A negative review of Nokia's flagship hands carriers and retailers a reason to give prime shelf placement and subsidies to the iPhone, Pre, and Android handsets instead, hitting N97 volumes where Nokia's margins are highest.
- With Nokia publicly ruling out Android, the N97's reception puts Symbian's credibility on trial with the same buyers deciding between platforms.
Second-order effects
- Developers watching the flagship stumble have less incentive to port applications to Symbian, reinforcing the app-ecosystem gap the review identifies as the real battleground rather than hardware checklists like bundled Skype or keyboards.
- Comes With Music's weak uptake removes services differentiation as a counterweight, pressuring Nokia to lean on its committed 2010 LTE device roadmap to regain operator favor instead.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, handset competition structurally shifts from spec sheets to software ecosystems — favoring Apple's integrated model and Google's Android alliance, and forcing Nokia into either a platform rebuild or partnership it has so far refused.
- A weakened Symbian consolidates the smartphone market around two or three operating systems, turning operators' device lineups and developer hiring into votes that accelerate the decline of any third platform.
The trend: Smartphone leadership is shifting from hardware specification races to software ecosystems and developer gravity, and Nokia's kitchen-sink flagship is a data point in that reversal.