Nokia to launch Windows RT tablet in September, alleged pictures leak
Nokia is planning to launch its first Windows RT tablet in September. Sources familiar with Nokia's plans have revealed to The Verge that the company will unveil its tablet at a special launch event in New York next month.
Context & Ripple Effects
Nokia has signaled tablet ambitions since its 2011 Windows 8 tablet commitment, but subsequent reporting repeatedly placed the product on a later timetable. A December 2012 report framed the device around a battery-equipped keyboard cover and Surface competition, making the alleged September event a test of whether that long-running plan is finally becoming a product launch.
The report also arrives against a broader but still unproven Windows RT vendor push: Samsung had been reported to be planning its own Windows RT tablet in 2012. Nokia’s recent Lumia launches give it a phone lineup from which to extend the Windows brand into a larger-screen device.
First-order effects
- If the reported unveiling occurs, Nokia gains a tablet entry alongside its Lumia phones and turns a long-discussed hardware plan into a public Windows RT product position.
- Windows RT would gain a prospective Nokia-branded device, while Nokia’s earlier Surface-oriented tablet framing would invite direct product comparisons.
Second-order effects
- A Nokia tablet launch would raise the stakes for Samsung’s previously reported Windows RT plans, making vendor commitment to the platform more visible rather than leaving the category centered on a single device maker.
- If Nokia retains the previously reported keyboard-cover approach, accessories become part of its differentiation against Surface rather than an afterthought to the tablet itself.
Third-order effects
- Repeated tablet reports from Nokia and Samsung point to Windows RT being tested as a multi-vendor hardware category, with manufacturers using device design and accessories to distinguish otherwise platform-aligned products.
- The pattern also shows handset vendors extending established Windows phone brands into tablets, making cross-device product portfolios more important to their platform strategies.
The trend: Windows hardware vendors are attempting to broaden their product portfolios from phones into tablets, using differentiated hardware to establish a role in Windows RT.