Knock, Knock, Nokia's Heavy Fall...

Nor should they have any reason to do so....they were dead and and now have come alive in a huge way with the Droid X and the Android OS......They sell hardware and leave the SW to the OS guys like they used to with Windows. They likely will come out with a WP7 device before their own......and have both OS choices for the consumer who prefers the Motorola brand. That is a GOOD thing.
 
The Major OS are covered.....Linux, Windows, OSX. Linux based OS being the OS of choice for those who like to mess with their devices or have more ways to use them unencumbered by the SW code........I don't even think HP has much of a chance with the "new palm WebOS at this point.
 
They should do it, for precisely the reasons I mentioned. They suck at software, and they can't maintain a OS infrastructure.

They've essentially had Symbian handed to them, and they're really done nothing to advance it. Everything they've done on their own has either caused major breakage with the system (S60V3) or has sucked (V5, ^1). If they adopted android, and concentrated on putting their services on top, they'd be in much better shape.

BTW -- going android doesn't mean your wedded to google. You can go Android and not include any google services, which means you'd not be tied into google. You would get the OS, and the developer tools, which are miles ahead of anything Nokia offers.
 
I was feeling this way until I read the article. Now I'm not sure they could come up with something good even if they went Android.

They really need to get rid of their bureaucracy. Mobile time is faster than internet time, and there is no room for arse saving decision making. The fearful ends up last.

Consolidate C, E, and N models into one, get rid of 60% of the managers and offer phones for every single band in the world. No more US neglect.
 
@LoFo: Thanks for posting. Fascinating read, albeit very frustrating too. Let's hope that Elop does indeed make some major improvements from within, time will tell.
 
That's true. Nokia won't survive in an Android world if they have long product cycles. Like Sony Ericsson, who still pumps out Android 1.6 phones to this day because they can't move fast enough, in contrast to Huawei or HTC, who are quickly moving phone designs to the latest Android OS.

As for Motorola, they're not going to pretend they know software, so they're not, and so they're going with Android.

On the other hand, Samsung is pushing its Bada, and the Wave handset has sold at least 3 million. Not as good as the Galaxy S with 5 million, but that's still a tremendous success for Samsung and they're following the initial Wave with a second Wave of three handsets. Samsung has no problem pushing Androids and Windows Phone even when they're pushing Bada.

Why? Because I view Samsung's Androids and Windows Phones to be market Trojans. Samsung might be using the experience gained on Android and Windows Phone to better their own Bada platform. Who is to say the money they made making those Android and Windows Phones will help go funding their Bada efforts?

So why can't Nokia be this way? if Nokia had been selling Androids since last year, the money that is going to HTC, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson's pockets are going to Nokia's. Hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars, that could be used to fund Symbian, Meego, and other services. Money that is denied from their competitors weaken their competitors. Chinese has a saying, "keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer..."

Again its all business. Managers and executives are hired to mind the bottom line, not to defend a platform theology. And then again, I feel that Nokia is now too deep down a road and its too late to commit to an Android handset now. i think the company requires some serious re-organizational changes first so you don't introduce models that fit last year into this year. Need to reduce the bureaucracy so product development is much faster and more responsive to market changes. They need to overhaul an entire smug and conservative culture within.
 
I've been saying for years that splitting the phones division off into "regular", "N", and "E" divisions, and having them compete against each other for resources and money was the stupidest thing Nokia had ever done.

Looks like I'm not the only one saying it anymore. :)
 
good post. htc samsung and mot are models for the way forward. the reason that management is defending to the last man their past decisions is that an admission of failure means losing your job. it's human nature, whether you make $60k or $600k.
 
BADA looks to me like Android.....I would rather stay with a company that does SW for a living. I would not have purchased a "SAmsung" device if Nokia had Android. If samsung abandoned Android (so it doesn't have to pay for it's SW) I would look for another Hardware builder that is more cellphone centric with the Android OS.

The OnLy reason I bought the Samsung brand is because it currently is the best Android device on ATT. I choose my carrier first, THEN the device to use. BADA looks like Android.....why not get the real thing made by a real mobile phone company?
 
Oh wow, weird... its supposed to take to this page:

http://www.forum.nokia.com/Distribute/Ovi_Store_statistics.xhtml

Hopefully work this time. And just to state again: despite this facts and figures, the Ovi Store/Ovi generally has long long LONG ways to go.

EDIT: Still did not work. Another example of sloppy execution or just a web oddity? Any way, I'll copy the link here with the first "h" left out

ttp://www.forum.nokia.com/Distribute/Ovi_Store_statistics.xhtml
 
To be honest, those statistics are all crap. I mean, let's look at some examples:



What does that mean? Define Prominent? What percentage of visitors is that?



Downloads... of what? Wallpapers, ringtones, themes? Odd that they don't break that out, unless they have something to hide... :)



Yes, and one app is usually the Ovi store, as the install counts as a download in Nokia-land.



Again, define an "active user"? How many logins per month does it to be considered active? I'm guessing it's an artificially high number, to prop that statistic up.



No mention of S40 to S60 ratios... we just get vague statistics on this.

I really could go on and on... it's hard not to, to be honest. This is such a compilation of fail...
 
**Well, as I said, it has LONG ways to go but, at the current they'll have a billion downloads in the next 12 months, which is not a complete failure IMHO. :)
 
The Koreans have one other issue no one really discusses but should. They are nationalistic. In the long run, they don't believe leaving their software destiny to foreign sources. Keep this in mind with the Chinese and the Japanese as well. Both the Chinese and the Japanese mobile industry appear currently satisfied forking off their own versions of Android, Symbian and mobile Linux for now, but who knows they both appear to have grander ambitions on their own. Note: Google top execs attended and made speeches in the China Mobile OMS launch event, an indication that this Android fork is an officially sanctioned one. I have read before that Docomo getting all the telecoms and electronics manufacturers in Japan to develop one OS. No doubt all these efforts will have some government blessing.

And who knows? People used to diss on Korean cars, phones, etc,. Now look at what they have done. They are confident and very ambitious. All the more reason why i keep an eye on Bada.
 
I agree the Koreans are not to be underestimated. Samsung is a great company but IMO and for reasons that may not even make sense , I prefer a phone centric company over a company whose resources are spread between TVs and washer dryer combos.

I understand the need for keeping everything in house but don;t agree its the best way...Example Taylor vs Martin guitars. I have one of each and the Fishman system is far better than Taylors home grown ES system. Fishman is in the business of Acoustic guitar pickups...Taylor makes EVERYTHING on their guitars except for the strings. Martins are still better amplified.

The only thing that would make this phone better IMO is a Nokia nameplate..... But Nokia has become a Pariah in the US market anyway.
 
This contrasts a lot with my view of the Asian manufacturers.

I have had this impression that they were agnostic when it comes to business decisions, with the exception of Sony. I always saw them going for the money and building what the customer wants. Unlike many Western business that prefer to spend money to make the customer want their product afterwords (like Apple).

So, my view on the reasoning behind Bada was purely economical and not political. Politics puts a lot of strings on business decisions and that's why I'm surprised with your observation. The Asian manufacturers seem to be very nimble when it comes to new technology.

I have no reason to doubt your observation. I've never been to Asia and have limited experience on the subject. But if they are able to satisfy political goals, be profitable and keep their eyes on what people want, then they must be more disciplined than I could ever imagine. These are three huge balls to juggle.

On this side of the rim we can barely meet a single goal alone...
 
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