By Vamien McKalin email: v.mckalin@mobilenapps.com | Mar 11, 2013 09:28 AM EDT
Nokia is in a very strange situation: The company is cautious and worried about what could happen in the future if certain events were to unfold. What if Microsoft releases a Surface-branded Windows Phone 8 device? Worse yet, what if the company completely abandons the platform? These are questions that need answering.
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By going the route of Windows Phone back in 2010, Nokia made a big gamble on a platform that came very late to the party. Three years later, the growth Nokia hoped for has failed to become reality, and that now leaves the company in a state of speculating on its own future. Moving to Windows Phone was no easy decision because Symbian was royalty-free, while Windows Phone is not. The royalty-driven aspect of Windows Phone was Nokia's main concern back in 2011; now things have changed.
In the 2012 filings to the SEC, Nokia acknowledged the following:
"Microsoft may act independently of us with respect to decisions and communications on that operating system which may have a negative effect on us. Moreover, if Microsoft reduces investment in that operating system or discontinues it, our smartphone strategy would be directly negatively affected by such acts."
As of now, there are no signs of Microsoft planning to kick Windows Phone to the curb; it has no choice but to see the platform succeed or risk being irrelevant in the mobile arena.
Because Microsoft killing off Windows Phone would not help the company's prospects, coming up with its own Windows Phone hardware could. Nokia also acknowledged this in its filings; the following is what the Finnish giant thinks:
"Microsoft may make strategic decisions or changes that may be detrimental to us. For example, in addition to the Surface tablet, Microsoft may broaden its strategy to sell other mobile devices under its own brand, including smartphones. This could lead Microsoft to focus more on their own devices and less on mobile devices of other manufacturers that operate on the Windows Phone platform, including Nokia," the filing said.
Nokia has found itself in a difficult situation; there is nowhere else to go unless a secret smartphone OS is in the works.
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