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Microsoft just bought Nokia for $0

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Re: Microsoft just bought Nokia for $0

#131

Post by redrobot5050 »

kyberneticka wrote: post #118
marshray wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Baloney. Some of Nokia's other options were to 1. Develop a fantastic new platform/product/ecosystem that people wanted to buy (using local talent) 2. Support Android on some or most of their devices 3. Reinvigorate their current platform somehow (new features, reduced costs, new apps, developer incentives, etc) Keep in mind, MS's product in this space is widely considered less than successful. The only thing MS has…

Windows Phone 7 has been on the market for less then a full quarter. It is a brand new OS, better on initial release then iOS 1.0 or Android 1.0. So stay calm. In time, people will see Windows Phone as an attractive alternative in the market. RE point 1 and 3, Nokia did this already - it was supposed to be Maemo. They didn't go anywhere with it. They turned it into Meego. We know what happened with. Nokia failed MISE…

How is WP7 better than iOS 1.0? It seems about feature even with iOS 1.0.

Nevermind that WP7 isn't competing against iOS 1.0. It's competing against iOS 4.3, and in the fall, iOS 5.0.

Re: Microsoft just bought Nokia for $0

#132

Post by kyberneticka »

ldng wrote: post #127
kyberneticka wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With Android, as others have pointed out, Nokia would have faced immense competition from HTC, Samsung, and others who are established in the marketplace. With WP7, they at least have an opportunity to come in at the ground floor. Also, given the relationship between Elop and MS, there can be some shared resources to make Nokia the flagship for WP7. With Android, they would have been just another manufacturer.

I would answer that implementing this strategy can't be a short term plan. This will take time to put in place meanwhile a lot of executives can change. Is it wise to rely on a relationship between one executive and another company as a long term strategy ?

I didn't say it was wise. I just believe that it is the reality of the situation. We have watched Nokia throw their immense resources in every direction, from Symbian to Maemo to Meego, all resulting in failure. The pathways for Nokia to take were pretty narrow, and I think spending more time in developing yet ANOTHER platform would have been death. Nokia cut their losses here, and went with a platform they could work with. They can focus their efforts on developing killer hardware and optimizing WP7 for it. It takes the biggest weakness of Nokia (interface design and software) out of their hands. It also makes the platform more attractive for developers - with Nokia backing WP7, there's guaranteed distribution and handset sales.

Re: Microsoft just bought Nokia for $0

#133

Post by kyberneticka »

kyberneticka wrote: post #118
marshray wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Baloney. Some of Nokia's other options were to 1. Develop a fantastic new platform/product/ecosystem that people wanted to buy (using local talent) 2. Support Android on some or most of their devices 3. Reinvigorate their current platform somehow (new features, reduced costs, new apps, developer incentives, etc) Keep in mind, MS's product in this space is widely considered less than successful. The only thing MS has…

Windows Phone 7 has been on the market for less then a full quarter. It is a brand new OS, better on initial release then iOS 1.0 or Android 1.0. So stay calm. In time, people will see Windows Phone as an attractive alternative in the market. RE point 1 and 3, Nokia did this already - it was supposed to be Maemo. They didn't go anywhere with it. They turned it into Meego. We know what happened with. Nokia failed MISE…

App ecosystem, better camera software, better social integration, better notifications. These are all better. It's a given that WP7 1.0 is competing with the most recent revs of iOS and Android, but the gap of what they have to make up is much smaller, which works to Microsoft's advantage, if they're willing to put resources into iterating quickly (which they haven't so far).

Re: Microsoft just bought Nokia for $0

#134

Post by davidw »

mortenjorck wrote: post #121
davidw wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Microsoft does not want a platform dominated by one hardware manufacturer. Their interest is for Nokia to be the Compaq of phones, or something along those lines. There's no way that Nokia can really own the platform so that the same stuff that runs on their phones won't run on other phones in the future. Microsoft owns it, period. With Android, being open source, they would have had a bit more leverage.

There is one non-disastrous way for this to work out. Nokia becomes the Dell of smartphones.

That could work, but I don't think they have it in their culture to be generic, low-margin, no R&D sorts of people, especially given labor and other costs in Finland.

Re: Microsoft just bought Nokia for $0

#135

Post by davidw »

unp3rs0n wrote: post #104
davidw wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Microsoft does not want a platform dominated by one hardware manufacturer. Their interest is for Nokia to be the Compaq of phones, or something along those lines. There's no way that Nokia can really own the platform so that the same stuff that runs on their phones won't run on other phones in the future. Microsoft owns it, period. With Android, being open source, they would have had a bit more leverage.

Android is already saturated with almost all hardware vendors jumping in and entry of low cost Chinese handsets. Microsoft may own it, but remember that they are an upstart now in the mobile business, not an established player. I am pretty sure this deal would allow them a lot more leverage to influence the OS design and software. Pretty much like the early WinTel era.

> Pretty much like the early WinTel era.

The company that got really, really rich off the early WinTel era was none other than Microsoft. Not Compaq, not IBM, not any of the other clones.

Re: Microsoft just bought Nokia for $0

#136

Post by silversmith »

zmmmmm wrote: post #130
saturdaysaint wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The downside is huge." Compared to what? I don't think the downside is greater than the downside of maintaining their own incredibly expensive and increasingly obsolete platform(s). This gives them their only hope of delivering a stable smartphones with a modern UI in the first half of this year (bonus: without spending tens-of-thousands of developer hours). I consider that "upside".

Compared to what? Compared to joining an ecosystem that has already succeeded (Android). The downside if WP7 turns out to peak at 5% of the market - which is entirely possible at this juncture - is that Nokia will suffer a horrific drop in profits and probably go out of business. They now need WP7 to reach 30 - 50% of the market simply to consider this strategy a success. It's incredibly risky to take a bet like that…

And it is entirely possible. Remember, Nokia has a huge hold of lower/middle-end mobile market. If they can manage to get WP7 on devices in that segment without making them much more expensive, WP7 might just as well become a respectable competitor.

Re: Microsoft just bought Nokia for $0

#137

Post by yangyang »

seshagiric wrote: post #66
masklinn wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and that will ensure that Nokia remains relevant. Nokia becoming a WP7 OEM does not make them relevant. They're going to go the same path as they would have had they gone with Android instead: just another phone OEM. Though between WP7 and Android, WP7 is probably a much better choice for them.

Actually WP7 is a better choice than what is obvious. WP7 will bring Office and Exchange to Nokia phones and hence bring it even closer to business users.

WP7 is consumer-orientated.

RIM / Blackberry have most of the business market at the moment.

Re: Microsoft just bought Nokia for $0

#139

Post by potatolicious »

ldng wrote: post #62
masklinn wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and that will ensure that Nokia remains relevant. Nokia becoming a WP7 OEM does not make them relevant. They're going to go the same path as they would have had they gone with Android instead: just another phone OEM. Though between WP7 and Android, WP7 is probably a much better choice for them.

Could you elaborate on that please ? Personally I fail to see in what this choice is better, maybe I missed something.

Given WP7's pretty disappointing launch so far, Nokia is customer #1 at MS. They can dictate the direction of the platform, and as the de facto (and one of the only) WP7 OEMs, the WP7 user experience will become synonymous with the Nokia user experience. They are in essence taking HTC's place back in the old Windows Mobile days - as one of the only actual supporters of the platform, they got front-row seats.

On Android, Nokia would've had no say in anything - being in the company of juggernauts like Moto and Samsung. They'd have trouble differentiating their UX from anyone else's, resulting in the commodification that Samsung, LG, and Moto are facing now. They'd be stuck in the same position as all the OEMs now: a UX they don't control, branding diluted across your competitors, and relegated to shipping crappy UI tack-ons in a desperate attempt to differentiate your Android offering from someone else's Android offering.

The WP7 launch hardware has been disappointing so far - build quality is middling, and resembles far too much like the hordes of Android phones out there. MS would do wise to tie WP7 tightly to Nokia - who have in the past created some of the best hardware in the entire industry (design and build quality inclusive).

Re: Microsoft just bought Nokia for $0

#140

Post by rick_bc »

davidw wrote: post #135
unp3rs0n wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Android is already saturated with almost all hardware vendors jumping in and entry of low cost Chinese handsets. Microsoft may own it, but remember that they are an upstart now in the mobile business, not an established player. I am pretty sure this deal would allow them a lot more leverage to influence the OS design and software. Pretty much like the early WinTel era.

> Pretty much like the early WinTel era. The company that got really, really rich off the early WinTel era was none other than Microsoft. Not Compaq, not IBM, not any of the other clones.

Well, it's actually Intel.
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