Nokia to make Android phones?

[gsaldivar]

http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2011/01/27/nokia-hints-at-switch-to-android/

On a conference call following the Finnish mobile phone giant’s fourth-quarter report, Mr. Elop talked about Nokia’s need to change rapidly in a fast-changing market place, and to consider “multiple ecosystem patterns”. Investors interpreted the comments as a sign that Nokia might be preparing to adopt a new smartphone platform, and traded up the company’s shares following a sharp dip earlier Thursday in the wake of its bleak first-quarter outlook.

Great news if true, Nokia's hardware is well respected and will definitely give Motorola, Samsung, HTC and LG a run for their money.

 

[zerocool84]

They really need to do something since they keep losing marketshare. This could be a quick stop-gap for them to pick up some marketshare while they work on their other flagship phones later on.

 

[gsaldivar]

They really need to do something since they keep losing marketshare. This could be a quick stop-gap for them to pick up some marketshare while they work on their other flagship phones later on.

That's probably true. It will be very interesting to see what happens if they start selling both MeeGo and Android phones. :biggrin:

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

They really need to do something since they keep losing marketshare. This could be a quick stop-gap for them to pick up some marketshare while they work on their other flagship phones later on.

You realize, the losses in marketshare aren't that big. In 2010, Android expanded huge, but the major loses were more RIM and stuff. In 2 quarters last yr Nokia actually held steady/grew 1% in another. But yeah. Overall since 2009, Nokia's been down.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

Since Nokia phones are indestructible I would probably be interested if they came through on this.

 

[Rayb]

Nokia doesn't need to adopt Android, they just need to relegate Symbian^3 to mid-range phones and refine Meego for the high end. Besides having spent a whole lot of time developing it, Symbian^3 is still a solid alternative to Android/iOS for a while.

According to the Earnings Call, maintaining market share and planing to deliver better user experience within their (Symbian^3/Meego) ecosystem is a main priority. Since MWC 2011 is just a couple of weeks away, expect some news before then.

 

[shortylickens]

That would be funny if they did switch for 2 reasons. One, I suggested they should make that move about two years ago, because they really needed to.
2nd: They have been emphatically stating they would not, and would ride their Symbian devil to the depths of hell before they changed.
I love their hardware but their UI and everything else hasnt impressed me since 2005.

 

[shortylickens]

Since Nokia phones are indestructible I would probably be interested if they came through on this.

Their phones are no more indestructible than anyone else's. What I do like is their low-end phones are built much better than everyone else's. And they tend to have better transceivers and much better battery life than everyone else. But since we are talking about Android it will probably only be high-end smartphones for a long time.

My thrill comes from thinking that Nokia will possibly be the first group to use a stripped down Android on basic phones. That would be very nice. Though, much like the computer world you would then have to check the hardware requirements of every app before you download. If you got a weak phone most apps (especially games) would be cut off to you.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Between this and the possibility of the Playbook running android apps, I'd say hell is a few degrees cooler today

 

[Oyeve]

If Nokia made an android phone it would be the defacto phone. Nokia phones are solid and awesome.mmmm android Nokia phone.