There is no doubt that Nokia is one of the most famous phone brands in the world. But in today’s mobile phone market, increasingly competitive mobile phone manufacturers are coming to the fore, such as Google and Apple. Nokia phones don’t seem to have many advantages to being the striker, so Nokia manages to find a way out. Last Friday, February 11, 2011, a great event happened in mobile technology: Nokia and Microsoft announce a long-term partnership. Both organizations have strengths and will bring a new ecosystem to the world of mobile phone devices.
This new partnership would replace the Symbian operating system with Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 and would be the software for Nokia’s smartphones. The deal also includes Nokia Maps being added to Microsoft Maps, and Nokia’s Ovi being added to the Microsoft Store. Both companies have some of the most recognized and famous brands in the world and after this new partnership has been built these brands will all be in one package.
After this news, people had different reactions. Some people embraced this new mobile ecosystem, they thought that Microsoft software and development tools are just what Nokia needs, Nokia should get rid of its outdated and unattractive Symbian platform. I agree with part of this opinion. Nokia phones are almost famous for their good quality but not for their design and Nokia mobile phones are always designed with the same pattern. Nokia does not have its own software. That will be bad because many manufacturers develop both the quality and the designs of their phones. Apple is the winner. Many people choose to buy an iPhone 4 because they like the fresh, textured look of the iPhone 4. What I might not agree with is that I think the Symbian platform is a good operating system. Because the new iOS and Android are too strong, Symbian starts to fall behind. It really needs to update its features.
Perhaps Nokia is anxious about the two new winners: Apple and Google. The reason Apple and Google can beat Nokia is that they have their special winning strategies. Google’s winning strategy is through its “open” or “chunked” approach to hardware and software for extreme flexibility. Apple seems to have the opposite winning strategy. It uses extreme simplicity through its “close” or “integrated” approach to hardware and software. That means that from design to production, Apple does all the procedures. This causes incredible success due to its good industrial design.
Nokia also wants to win. Will the new combination of two strong organizations win? It is too early to draw a conclusion. Let’s wait and see what happens.