Rumors of Nokia launching an Android phone seemed unlikely for a company acquired by Microsoft, but the company today announced not just one Android device, but three: the Nokia X, X+ and XL. The company’s flirtation with Android does, however, appear to be a token one – not that Microsoft is pleased.
The three budget phones are effectively hybrid devices. Not only have they been given an overlay designed to make them look like they are running Windows Phone, they aren’t even running a standard version of Android and won’t be able to run apps from the Google Play store …
What if Microsoft didn’t decide to dump a boatload of cash on top of Nokia to take their OS and Nokia went Android? It appears that there might have been a skunkworks project in place to get the Android OS on Nokia’s devices if the images from Engadget and Weibo are any indication.
Either that, or some cheeky Nokia employee decided to put Android on their N9. Whichever reality you believe, it wold have been nice to have an N9 Android device, even if it looks like an oversized iPod nano.
It is pretty desperate times over at Nokia which has lost significant amounts of its market cap Since new CEO Stephen Elop announced plummeting numbers for most of its Symbian Smartphones and dumbphone handsets earlier this week. What does one expect when the CEO publicly executes its flagship Symbian product with nothing to replace it for almost a year?
The company is now worth $25B and Microsoft is said to be trying to by the mobile phone division for somewhere around $19B. Nokia-Siemens and its other businesses would likely remain independent.
For Microsoft and Nokia, it seems like a pretty cozy deal. Microsoft goes from building OSes to building experiences end to end, like Apple, RIM and HP. Just like PlaysforSure->Zune
But what about Microsoft’s other partners in Windows Phone 7? Samsung, who has created arguably the best WP7 device in the Focus, HTC who has a broad range of Windows Phone 7 devices, Acer and other players would be left out in the cold. They won’t use WP7 when Microsoft is making hardware through its Nokia subsidy (again, just like Zune). You can’t compete against the company that makes your software.
They’d all probably double down on Android at that point. In fact, just reading the tea leaves now might have executives at those companies scaling back their Windows Phone 7 R&D.
