- However irresponsible this deal might have been perceived by folks, it is bold and I think it was the only card Nokia had to play after they missed out on buying Palm (which they still probably regret after the way HP is swallowing it). Though boldness doesn't generate revenue.
- With this deal, Nokia has been (or will soon be) relegated to the statuses of the likes of HTC, Samsung, LG & Dell. Translation: Just another OEM Phone manufacturer. Although Nokia claims that they have complete freedom to retool the entire Windows Phone 7. I doubt they will (and they said they won't).
- But if I were HTC, Samsung & LG, I would be pretty upset with what went down between Nokia & MS (as MS seems to have made several concessions that are specific & exclusive to Nokia) and I would go to MS and ask for a better deal as they would be holding the water (releasing Windows phones) until Nokia gets there. And I think they all would soon abandon ship and go over to the Android camp.
- In the end, I bet that this deal is not going to work as it is way too late (first Nokia Windows Phones are not expected until next year).
Can you imagine someone leaving a company and joining a direct competitor as a CEO and 3 months later essentially selling his new company to his former employer? It's essentially what happened here...
I am not sure whether this deal is the best Nokia could have done but for MS if they can keep their other OEMs happy then this is a sweet deal. They now have WP7 running on the most rugged of the phones. You will find plenty of people who swear by the quality of Nokia's hardware.
ReplyDeleteI was expecting Elop to go with Android just to insulate himself from charge that he is a trojan horse. But you don't become CEO by being meek and he showed that by taking a very tough decision.
Best of all this deal got you out of hibernation :)