“In our conversations with ODMs, we have confirmed that Nokia is planning to enter the netbook market with a Google Android, ARM-based netbook that would be sold at carriers. Considering this market is dominated by the PC players, we believe Nokia could face an uphill battle to succeed in this market.”
I don’t think an “oversized Nokia N97” as VentureBeat explains it, would be a terrible idea even running Android. But why would you position it as an oversized N97? Give these type of products a new brand name and position them as smartbooks or netbooks or what have you but, unless I’m mistaken, Zack Morris was the last person who was happy to have an oversized phone.
Being sold through a carrier you’ll also be looking at a monthly service charge as opposed to simply purchasing the hardware and relying on your nearest WiFi connection to do the trick. If there is a downfall to this model – THAT would be it. If Nokia makes a compelling product why shouldn’t it be able to compete through non-carrier retail channels? Price could be one concern… but 2010 is still plenty far away so we’ll keep our eyes on this developing story. And all Android Netbook developing stories, really.
[Via GigaOM]