Will Nokia build Windows phones?
According to a trusted source, Nokia is now likely to use Windows Phone 7 as an additional platform for its phones. Also, Nokia's board has given new ex-Microsoft CEO Stephen Elop the green light to change the company's strategy if needed, a source familiar with these matters said.
Context & Ripple Effects
Nokia enters late September 2010 with a brand-new chief executive who came straight from Microsoft, and per this report its board has already handed [[entity/stephen-elop|Stephen Elop]] a confirmed mandate to change company strategy if he sees fit. Against that backdrop, a trusted source says Nokia is likely to take on [[entity/windows-phone-7|Windows Phone 7]] as an additional platform rather than a replacement.
The significance cuts both ways: for Nokia, adding a licensed third platform would be the first concrete exercise of the board's new flexibility; for Microsoft, whose phone platform launches without a flagship-caliber hardware partner, Nokia is the one OEM whose volume could change Windows Phone's starting position.
First-order effects
- Microsoft gains a prospective marquee licensee for a Windows Phone 7 launch that otherwise lacks a top-tier hardware backer, while Nokia keeps its options open by framing the move as additive to its existing platforms rather than a swap.
Second-order effects
- If Nokia splits its lineup across platforms, its own Symbian and MeeGo roadmaps face internal competition for engineering attention and carrier slots, and Android-centered rivals gain a new argument that licensed-OS scale beats proprietary stacks at Nokia's volumes.
Third-order effects
- Boards installing outside CEOs with explicit mandates to abandon homegrown software platforms would become a repeatable playbook for incumbent hardware makers, pushing the smartphone market toward consolidation around a small set of licensed operating systems.
The trend: Smartphone operating systems are consolidating around a handful of licensed platforms, with incumbent hardware makers trading proprietary software control for ecosystem reach under new leadership.