12 August 2009

Nokia Will Not Change Strategy,
Remains Strongly Committed To Symbian

Literally dozens of news sites and numerous prominent bloggers have picked up on the story that world’s largest maker of mobile phones plans to throw away Symbian and switch to an open source Maemo OS it uses in its internet tablets.

Nokia has reacted quickly and strongly insists that story reported by Financial Times Deutschland and others were untrue, adding that it remains "strongly committed" to the Symbian mobile operating system.

"We absolutely remain committed to our current open OS software strategy for celluar devices, which is based on the world-leading Symbian OS...," Nokia said in a statement.

"Symbian remains our choice and we’ll continue to see enhancements that further the value and experiences on this platform. " Nokia said in a statement.

Nokia has already denied speculations about Linux powered mobile phones and claimed that they definitely have no plans to use any sort of Linux platform for their mobile phones! Nokia is even planning to switch Maemo to Qt as the main toolkit in the future so I really doubt we’ll get any Android powered Nokia phone this year! They might release yet another Linux powered tablet but they’ll keep Maemo as platform so there is no chance to see Android on it!

From other hand, if interface is all that matters and if the phone operating system is no longer important, sticking onto Symbian might become Nokia’s Achilles' heel and I’ll not be surprised if Nokia finally decide to switch horses!? I would love to hear your thoughts on this!?? Will Nokia Release Entierly New Aseries Family Of Smartphones?

Nokia, which makes roughly four out of every 10 mobile phones sold, has been losing out in the market for phones that can access the internet, send emails and download third-party applications, to products such as the Apple iPhone and BlackBerry Storm. The Android software platform, meanwhile, has been gaining ground with over half a dozen handsets expected to be available by the end of the year.

Analysts at HSBC reckon Nokia had 47% of the global smartphone market in 2007; that was down to 35% last summer and 31% at the end of the year. The smartphone segment is critical as it is the only part of the mobile phone market which is growing. Cash-strapped consumers are either holding on to their existing phones and opting for cheaper SIM-only deals or "trading up" to more advanced gadgets such as the iPhone. Opting to use Android, an "open source" platform that any software developer can access, is a reversal of the company's previous strategy in mobile phone software.