As expected, Finnish handset maker Nokia has today announced a strategic partnership with US technology giant Microsoft, under which it will adopt Windows Phone as its operating system for smartphones. Nokia will also use Microsoft’s search tool Bing for…
As expected, Finnish handset maker Nokia has today announced a strategic partnership with US technology giant Microsoft, under which it will adopt Windows Phone as its operating system for smartphones. Nokia will also use Microsoft’s search tool Bing for its mobile phones.
Also announced were changes to senior management changes and the company’s operational structure – please see People section for details.
Under the new structure, rumoured takeover target Nokia Siemens Networks, the equipment vendor JV between Nokia and Siemens, will keep its current form and remain a separate reporting entity.
“Nokia is at a critical juncture, where significant change is necessary and inevitable in our journey forward,” said Nokia president and CEO Stephen Elop. “Today, we are accelerating that change through a new path, aimed at regaining our smartphone leadership, reinforcing our mobile device platform and realizing our investments in the future.”
Nokia promised that the partnership was based on “highly complementary assets” that together would deliver differentiated and innovative products on an “unrivalled scale” across the world.
Nokia will bring to the partnership hardware optimization, software customization, language support and scale, while Microsoft will provide the mobile operating system and developer tools.
Current operating system Symbian will in the meantime become a franchise platform, ensuring that previous investments create additional value.
Nokia hopes to retain and transition its 200 million Symbian owners to Windows, while targeting sales of some 150 million more Symbian devices in future years. Under the new strategy, MeeGo – an operating system jointly developed by Nokia and Intel – will become an open-source, mobile operating system project focused on longer-term market exploration of next-generation devices, platforms and user experiences. Nokia said plans to ship a MeeGo-related product later this year are still underway.
