By 
In case you haven’t been able to tell, it’s numbers week in the business world. Nokia was one of many manufacturers to hold their Q4 and end-of-year financial conference calls, and we didn’t follow it for obvious reasons. But one single sentence from Nokia’s Stephen Elop has people wondering: is Nokia ready to switch to Android?
Elop said Nokia needed to change rapidly in a fast-changing market, and that considering “multiple ecosystem patterns” is something that they should be doing.
Analyst Geoff Blaber of CCS Insight believes Nokia was clearly hinting at the need to adopt an established third-party operating system outside of Meego – or that they’ve already decided on it – and says that the option that would be most likely is Android.
The last time Nokia dispelled rumors of them using Android, they described adopting it as being like “peeing in your pants for warmth.” He was referring to the company’s Finnish background, where Finnish boys would pee in their pants to keep warm in the winter.
It was a clever way to say Android isn’t a viable long-term solution and is only good for short-term prosperity, just as peeing in your pants in freezing weather would just result in frozen gonads shortly after.
It’s no surprise that the man who said that – Anssi Vanjoki – is no longer with Nokia: he left the company just a few days later.
New reports out of DigiTimes also estimate Nokia won’t come anywhere near their projected growth rate thanks to the advent of low-cost Android handsets from the ecosystem’s least and even most popular manufacturers. The lows like Huawei and ZTE to the highs like Samsung, LG, and Motorola will all have affordable options scattered throughout 2011.
With Nokia’s market share not getting any better as Symbian loses mind share and while Meego has yet to ship installed on a Nokia device, it’s clear why they’d need to “pee their pants” and go with the very course of action they’ve been trying to get away from. [via Wall Street Journal]
why is it always about urine with nokia ?
Come on Nokia. Give Android a shot. Hit the market with a honeycomb or gingerbread device. If Nokia adopts android we will see our numbers explode.
It’d be great to have another good manufacturer, but isn’t Microsoft also courting them pretty hard?
It will be interesting to see how the multiple ecosystems comment pans out, as obviously they already have 3 ecosystems – old feature phones, Symbian and Meego if and when it might arrive…
It’d be great to combine Nokia hardware with a different operating system without having to hack everything, but I wouldn’t necessariyl bet on it being guaranteed as Android considering the close links between Elop and his former employers at Microsoft. Windows Phone 7 on a Nokia handset could be really interesting, and develop the three horse race for mobile OS between iOS, Android and Windows… I think this could be another worrying sign for Blackberry though, particularly as Microsoft products for enterprise could be tied together with Nokia handset reliability and execution
Nokia makes great phones. I had an old-school Nokia that went in the pool with me and I made a phone call on it immediately after getting out of the pool. They are built tough and reliable. My friend in college didn’t believe how tough it was, so I chucked it down the hallway of the engineering building just to prove it (it bounced about 10 times and when I picked it up, it was still going strong). The only problem is, now they’re “peeing in their pants” and I am a bit concerned with how this reaction to Android and iOS will work out for them. I hope they make BAD ASS Android phones that will blow Samsung out of the water.
I’d been nokia my whole life until android – i’d buy an androkia phone in a second.
Microsoft (WM7) is a non-factor. I highly doubt they would dive into that steaming pile of shit to try and save themselves. Their best bet at making a HUGE comeback would be to produce a really high end Android phone to open things up. Then make a variety of Android phones after that.
I’m with Ric on this one.
I love Nokia hardware, would definitely buy an android device from them.
Perhaps this year’s winter is a wee bit too cold for Nokia? ha ha ha ha ha
I’m with Ric and Contraus, If they make one with a decent keyboard anyway.
Before my first Android phone, I had a stainless steel Nokia slider. It’s still one of my favorites phones that I’ve owned. I’d love for them to adopt Android in the near future.
Okay, really do hope this becomes reality. I’d buy a high end Nokia device running Android in a heartbeat!
I also came from a Nokia phone back in 2008 to Android. I even took a cheap Nokia phone over the first iPhone on AT&T because it could record video and send picture messages, LOL.
Nokia makes great hardware. Most of the phones I’ve owned have been Nokia, but since they dont make Android phones I ended up switching to HTC. I would love to see them adopt an OS as good and powerful as Android with their excellent hardware (especially cameras)!
I was a pretty hardcore Nokia user for many years until I switched to the HTC Hero and haven’t looked back. Nokia have made some pretty impressive hardware over the years so, an N8 with Android would interest me.
Do I think it’ll happen though? Considering their new CEO is ex-Microsoft and he was chosen over the obvious internal candidate, Vanjoki, by demand of Nokia’s American investors i would suspect a Windows Phone 7 handset is nore likely, depending of course on whether Nokia do feel that WP7 offer an eco-system that is beneficial to them. Would be happy to be proved wrong though.
I would consider buying a Nokia again… IF and ONLY IF they moved a top line phone to Android. I will never be on Symbian again.
Mark
Nokia clearly needs Android now just to drive fat smartphone sales. Android is a well-known mobile OS, tremendously popular. Meego and Maemo need another good time to shine bright. Now Nokia needs HITs to improve its financials and reputation.
Also, Nokia, please, drop that outdated ‘Connecting people’ cellular slogan. Smartphones are rather computers than phones.
Everybody who wants to succeed in smartphones/phones should have NEW, COMPUTER-ish, hi-tec corporate brand image. like HTC, Apple, Google and even HPalm!
i’d take one on a 2 week test drive.
i’d like an e-70 with ANDROID 2.2 thank you.
if Nokia adopts Android, Android will explode from 25 percent to 50 percent plus lol
I’m with Ric and fredphoesh,
If Nokia picks up Android, and makes high end phones based on Android, this going to be only manufacture I’ll ever by from.
Meego has a ton of potential, it would be cool to see more people get behind it and make it as big as Android. On the other hand, if they could put Android on a Nokia handset, I’d leave HTC loyal fanbase and buy one. The N8 or even the X7 look like great handsets.
I think the bigger issue is they are smart enough to read the writing on the wall and be proactive instead of reactive to the likelihood of losing the top spot. Whether or not they partner with Google is an interesting question. The more interesting question for me is whether they would stick with stock Android or make yet another version to fit their needs if such a partnership ever occurs. Vanilla Android on a Nokia phone, win on all fronts for everyone except Apple, Windows, and the like.
I’m also a fan of Nokia and Android, I even bought one of the N810 tablets, and then tried to run Android on it. I still remember my last Nokia phone, and wish my current HTC where as reliable as my old Nokia was. So if they move to Android and sell a good high-end Android phone (preferable with keyboard) it will be the first on my list.
An N8 like device running Android would be awesome. I had also heard rumblings of Nokia working with MS on some WP7 phones. If they ended up doing both Android and WP7, the market would get very, very interesting.
If Nokia were really smart they would make high quality Android phones/tablets/netbooks and be the only company offering full Stock Android. They should put out a slew of apps/widgets/themes in the market place so that way it doesn’t slow down the update process when newer versions are released. And make a full range of devices both high end and low. With their top notch build quality they could really make some nice Android devices.
I agree with many other people – if Nokia made Android devices I would be in HEAVEN
That is why nokia sucks and is completely irrelevant. Android rules!! All anyone will be saying about nokia in 5 years will be “nokia, what’s a nokia?”
2C IS RIGHT! Nokia is a pretty well put together compnay, I see them pushing for a stock experience, and if they joined the open handset alliance and were able to contribute to the android code base, that would be a total win!. Just think if you have some of the 451 million devices sold by nokia last quater, let’s say a 10% chuck, that is an additional 45 million andriod devices in a quater, that alone would be a number to rival the iphone sales. that would mean a huge stock user base, whioch transaltes to less fragmentation because stock would be more easily upgradeable, and with numbers like that, devs would flock to android. which means a better market with better apps, and more purchasing which in turn leads to more corperate support, which makes android more popular and in turn pushes the platform forward. In my opinon that would be just a monumentally good idea for google to get on a plane and start courting nokia hardcore. they should be thinking about using their large cash stores to subsidize nokias development proccess for an andriod device, just because the implications are HUGE!
If peeing your pants is cool, consider me Miles Davis.
Nexus N
^ +1 for the Nexus N
Let’s exanine this further. If Nokia could have some agreement with Google, release the Nexus N (N series Android), this will truly put the onus on the Iphone. What will need to happen is a bigger push to reign in fragmentation, the ability for all phones to run vanilla android, more tablets and more docking accessories for the phones and if neccessary, tablets as well.
I agree with many here – seeing Nokia making android phones would be a distinct focus of interest for me in probably getting one.
+1 for Nexus N. I want an Android with a Carl Zeiss lens.
+1 for Nexus N :). I have my wallet ready…
A nexus n would probably work better than the nexus s :p @Ric- Androika, lol. They should run with that
If Nokia was smart they would put Android in their devices then it would sell like hot cakes. I remember the only Nokia phone I bought was the Nokia 3300 Music phone such a great device.
Could be a great phone. At least it will have a minimum of 32GB onboard storage, a great camera and their new screen with awesome contrast and quality. They could even put their own ui on it and have ovi maps and stuff like that in case you want free maps stored on your phone.
Seeing as Nokia and Motorola were the only phones I used that got good reception, (I never used a Blackberry but played with one the other day, they get good reception too)I would definitely get Nokia again.
If they jus make an Evo Branded Nokia Android phone for Sprint, a Droid Branded Nokia Android phone for Verizon, and a Nexus Branded Nokia Android phone for T-Mobile they wouldn’t have to worry about being sued. The CEO would probably sit back in his chair take another sip of wine and say fuck the government we can spare a million or 2. They can make it if they jus make an Android thats high end and high quality like they usually do.
Nokias are the best built I’ve seen, however their issue with Symbian was/is not only the fact that it was crap, but that they refused to upgrade older phones to newer revisions of the OS. You want a new version? New phone please. Ka-ching! Thought their new product manager said something about changing strategy to more long-term upgrade support, I’ve not seen any evidence of this.. yet. Hopefully such an upgrade strategy like theirs would not continue in the Android ecosystem – with any luck they’ve seen what it’s done to the reputations of Samsung and LG.
Another interesting note – it would be quite easy to make a MeeGo phone run Android, and linux geeks and xda nerds alike would flock to such a device. Nokia’s been increasingly friendly with FOSS communities in the past, and it’s served them well (Qt, Maemo/MeeGo, they even open-sourced Symbian) – I’m sure this opportunity for community involvement wouldn’t pass them by.
Does anyone think Nokia is stubborn?
+1 for Nexus N.
Even one of my favorite phones was my first nokia brick style phone. Damn reliable, and damn durable.
PGE phone on all carriers, I’d buy it up in a second!
!+1 for Nexus N.
Even one of my favorite phones was my first nokia brick style phone. Reliable and durable…
Just one problem with a Microsoft partnership: they are incredibly inept at designing for today’s smartphone buyers.
Sure, Redmond can sell a few million of anything to hardcore Windows geeks, engineers, sysadmins, suck-up tech columnists, and phone store walk-ins who don’t know any better. But that’s peanuts. OK, maybe WP6 does have 10000 kludgy old enterprise apps to calculate the steam pressure in a boiler-furnace on the moon. So what? Buyers in the ‘average user’ category – a piddling few hundred million of ’em, in the USA alone – couldn’t care less.
As for Nokia, they continue to turn out impressive handsets with spotty, unsatisfying software. It looks pretty good until you’ve seen it side-by-side with iOS or Android. That’s why Nokia’s top-price buyers in Blighty and elsewhere are switching to Brand X in ever-increasing numbers. So, if Nokia signs on with Microsoft, they will have condemned themselves to mobile Purgatory…hope their stockholders are happy selling millions of $49 candybar phones to the Asian subcontinent.
On the other hand, pairing a beautifully-crafted Nokia phone with the latest version of Android gives buyers the best of both worlds: sexy hardware running a vigorously competitive OS. Android users will finally see handsets with top-notch design & features, like Zeiss optics. And Nokia fans can finally stop making excuses for Symbian’s pathetic web-browser and anemic app store. Among the spendy set, Nokia could give Apple a run for their money and make a _killing_ on the hardware.
It’s a no-brainer, really. That’s why I confidently predict Nokia will go with Microsoft. This deal smells like Studebaker buying Packard, redux: each team thinks (and prays) the other is more competent than they, saving them from their own cluelessness. Tragically, both are wrong. :-)
Nokia is proof that a turkey can drown in a rainstorm. Even if Nokia decided today to enter the Android market, it would take them 18-24 months to engineer their customarily overbuilt but underpowered solution.
Wait, turkeys can’t drown in rainstorms?
I have always loved Nokia hardware, but I wanted the Android network so I had to switch to Samsung. If Nokia came out with a great phone running Android that had a keyboard and Nokia’s awesome hardware I would buy it tomorrow.
Nokia should not fall to andrid, instead try to make the NOKIA-SYMBIAN dynasty to be more stronger in the upcoming gen by fragmenting new interface nad reasonable price