Microsoft execs were aware of an Android Lumia prototype before Nokia deal
Behind Microsoft Deal, the Specter of a Nokia Android Phone — SEATTLE — Before Microsoft reached a deal to buy Nokia's phone business, there was a possibility that Nokia could have switched its smartphones …
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft's Nokia handset deal moves it from supplying a phone platform to building phones through a controlled hardware business. Nokia's Android Lumia prototype shows that Android was a live strategic alternative while Microsoft was securing that control.
The transaction leaves Nokia's stated future centered on networks, location services and advanced technologies rather than its phone unit.
First-order effects
- Microsoft gains Nokia's phone business and begins producing its own hardware, tightening its control over the devices built around Windows Phone.
- Nokia separates its handset operation from the businesses its interim CEO identified as its post-deal focus.
Second-order effects
- Microsoft's handset strategy no longer depends on Nokia choosing Windows Phone over Android, reducing the platform leverage that an Android prototype represented.
- Other Windows Phone hardware partners face a platform owner that is also becoming a direct device maker.
Third-order effects
- The deal points toward a more vertically integrated mobile model, in which Microsoft pairs its software platform with a controlled hardware operation rather than relying solely on licensees.
The trend: Mobile platform companies are seeking tighter control of hardware as device partners retain credible alternative operating systems.