
Rafe Blandford, from All About Symbian/Al About MeeGo, has published what is most likely
the most complete and in-depth analysis of the Nokia/Microsoft deal, taking just about everything into account. His conclusion? You may not expect it considering the sites he works for, but he concludes that partnering with Microsoft was the best (i.e., least bad) choice. "So in assessing the relative risks and potential return between the two strategies, my opinion is that by following the 'go it alone strategy' Nokia would see a continued gradual decline in the face of intense competition and a less competitive surrounding ecosystem. By contrast, partnering with Microsoft offers Nokia the opportunity, although not the guarantee, to reverse its recent decline and potentially return to its dominant position in mobile."
Member since:
2008-03-17
Couldn't agree more. Nokia had great software and hardware, ready to ship. And yet a stream of very unwise management decisions and lack of focus succeeded in essentially destroying what great potential they had for building their own ecosystem. "
I don't dispute the first point, but I reckon MS does provide the sources to oems so they can customize the kernel to their hardware, so Nokia probably will have access the the sources. However, that will not help them as their expertise is not in MS technologies unlike all the other oems which have had a history with wm so that is a lot of time wasted in retraining staff or hiring new staff.
Amusingly there is going to be a huge shuffling of engineering and yet the middle management (that has gotten Nokia in this position) seems to be staying exactly the same.