Nokia has announced a partnership with Microsoft that will see the software firm’s Windows Phone platform adopted as the handset vendor’s primary smartphone platform. The news comes in a week when speculation over Nokia’s strategy was driven to fever pitch after a leaked memo from CEO and former Microsoft executive Stephen Elop revealed the depth of the crisis facing the Finnish firm.
A frenzy of speculation has been unleashed ahead of a planned strategic briefing from Nokia on Friday 11th February, after a document reported to be an internal memo from CEO Stephen Elop has been published online. The document, which the BBC claimed on Wednesday to have verified as genuine, compares Nokia’s current position in the handset market to that of a man being forced to choose between the burning oil rig on which he stands and the dangerous, icy seas into which he must jump to avoid the flames.
The Google-backed Android operating system overtook Nokia’s Symbian during the fourth quarter of 2010 to become the leading platform in the smartphone segment according to market analyst firm Canalys. Shipments of Android devices reached 32.9 million by Canalys’ estimation, with Symbian trailing on 31.0 million. Symbian’s performance keeps Nokia in first position among the vendors, however, with 28 per cent market share in the top tier, the analyst said.
Handset vendor Nokia, whcih has an existing global alliance with Intuit, a provider of business and financial management platforms, is piloting a mobile marketing service in India, under the brand GoConnect.
Strong sales of Apple’s iPhone during the third quarter have propelled the Californian vendor to fourth place in the global handset vendor rankings, according to data from IDC. While Apple has had a strong position in the smartphone segment since the launch of the first iPhone, this is the first time that it has made the top five in terms of overall shipments.
UK-based carrier Vodafone, Big Red as it’s affectionately known, is in a right old pickle. Pieter Knook, the ex-Microsoft man hired to spearhead the operator’s designs on the mobile internet space, has done the Frank with barely concealed glee. Just prior to his exit on Tuesday, Knook had posted his parting shot (since removed) on twitter. “Freedom beckons,” he tweeted as he went skipping off into the sunset leaving the smoking wreckage that is Vodafone 360 behind him.
Finnish handset vendor Nokia launched a suite of new smartphones at its London Nokia World event on Tuesday, amid the boardroom turmoil that has seen departure announcements for its two most senior executives within days of one another.
Anssi Vanjoki, head of Mobile Solutions for Nokia, who earlier this year was made responsible for reviving the Finnish firm’s ailing high end handset play, tabled his resignation on Monday. The shock announcent came just three days after Nokia revealed that it is to replace CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo with Microsoft executive Stephen Elop.
Finnish handset vendor Nokia has sold its wireless modem business to Japanese semiconductor manufacturer Renesas for $200m. The announcement came on the heels of a blog post from Anssi Vanjoki, head of the newly created Solutions unit within Nokia, in which he pledged to launch a fightback that would re-establish Nokia as leader in the smartphone space.
Mary McDowell has been at Nokia, the world’s largest handset vendor, since 2004. She joined as head of the Finnish firm’s enterprise unit, responsible for the high end E-series handset portfolio and a range of mobility and security solutions targeted at corporate users. In the same year she was appointed a member of the Nokia Group Executive Board.
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