With Nokia’s Lumia 900, Lumia 800 and Lumia 710 Windows Phones still struggling to capture the public’s imagination and its Symbian OS on its last legs, rumours are circulating that its back-up plan may be a switch to Android.
Speaking with Yle Uutiset, Nokia chairman Risto Siilasmaa was questioned as to whether Nokia has put all its eggs in one basket with its commitment to Windows Phone on its recent range of Lumia smartphones.
And while he said that Nokia was confident that Windows Phone would fulfil expectations with the release of Windows Phone 8, he said that a contingency plan was in place just in case expectations aren’t met.
Since Nokia’s Symbian OS is already on the way out – despite the release of new Symbian Belle handsets, such as the Nokia 808 PureView – Symbian is almost certainly not going to be part of the plan.
A point which was confirmed by Siilasmaa, when he said, “Symbian’s market share has come down close to zero”, leading to the decision to join forces with Microsoft for the Lumia Windows Phones.
So with Symbian out of the running and Android currently holding around 61 per cent market share on smartphones, the ‘contingency plan’ Siilasmaa speaks of is sure to be the release of a Nokia Android phone.
But for now Nokia still has great faith in Windows Phone, with Siilasmaa calling the OS a “technological first” and saying that Nokia is confident that the operating system will go on to be a success.
With Windows Phone 8 on the way and already looking promising – despite the sad fact that it won’t be available for existing Nokia Lumia phones – only time will tell if Nokia’s faith in the OS is well-founded.
And while a switch to Android would make a great deal of sense for the ailing Finnish company, it’s a decision that may be too little too late, if it comes at all, so we’ll be watching this space with great interest.
Will Nokia hitch its wagon to the Android gravy-train and would you like to see a Nokia Android phone in the near future? Why not shout up and let us know in the comments below.
Via CNET