nokia vs. android

8/11/2019 Nokia vs. Android

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Comparative (International) Management

Assignment # 04

Reviewed and submitted by: Mansoor Ali Seelro (A !III)

Posted by:

- By Eric McBride, on 4/18/12 2:55 p.m.

- By Jessica Dolcourt, June 2, 2011 1:30 p.m.

- By Brad Reed | BGR News Wed, May 8, 2013

Why Nokia Didn't Go With Android. A Decision They Regret?

Yesterday I wrote an article about how Nokia and Motorola were struggling to gain leverage in

the Smartphone market in Europe, and learned that carriers in the EU were very direct in saying

that Nokia simply cannot compete with Android and IS devices! "ut here#s a $un $act $or you%

&id you know that 'oogle o$$ered Nokia Android be$ore they chose to partner with Microso$t(

It#s true) In $act, they spent a lot o$ time with 'oogle discussing the option, but in the end

decided to go with Microso$t as their operating system o$ choice! Nokia shares are at a *+ year

low, so I think it#s pretty $air to ask -uestions% *!.hy didn#t Nokia choose Android instead(And ! &o they regret their decision( I discussed how Nokia lost their market share and how

they con$idently stated that they could $it into Android#s ecosystem in part * o$ this article,

which can be $ound here! "ut now we will $ind out ./Y Nokia chose not to use the Android

operating system that they admittedly said that they could $it in!

So picking up where we le$t o$$% Nokia dominated mobile, the i0hone and Android arrived,

Nokia lost 112 o$ their market share, their 3E publically admitted that they were being

brought to their knees by the i0hone and Android, and commented that they would $it into

Android#s ecosystem nicely! It seemed like this move would work, and 'oogle was more than

willing! "ut here#s where it gets tricky!

Why They Didn't Choose Android

.hile Nokia had great things to say about Android, they also mentioned .indows phone and

admitted that Android was ahead o$ .indows 0hone% 4Android is growing very nicely5 it has

signi$icant market share! .indows 0hone is in its early $ormative states in terms o$ customer

traction and so $orth!4 /e doesn#t sound that convinced o$ .indows in that statement does he(


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Assignment # 04


"ut one thing you should know about Stephen Elop 63E o$ Nokia7% "e$ore working $or Nokia,

he was head o$ the "usiness &ivision $or a little company called!!!you guessed it!!!!Microso$t!

So the relationship was already there, and Microso$t capitali8ed on it! /is additional reasoning

$or choosing Microso$t is comple9 and debatable! .hen asked why .indows 0hone, he

answered at a Nokia press con$erence in :ebruary ;**% 4It gives us the opportunity to lead! It

gives us a $aster path to the United States marketplace!4 "ut what#s interesting is that he stated

why they were reluctant to use Android, saying that with Android, Nokia handsets would ! /e went on to say that 4.e absolutely spent time

with our colleagues at 'oogle! ur $undamental belie$ is we would have di$$iculty

di$$erentiating! ?he commoditi8ation risk was very high!4

A risky move

So basically, it seems that their choice had nothing to do with market share or a technical

advantage, but more because they were a$raid o$ becoming irrelevant or 4! In their view, a third ecosystem to compete with Apple and Android would be incentive

enough $or carriers to help get Nokia through its problems! Another interesting point I

discovered when I talked to a $ormer Nokia employee was that i$ Nokia would have gone with

Android, they would e$$ectively given 'oogle and Android way too much o$ the market share

that they already dominate, making the only choices $or consumers wanting a Smartphone

Android or IS! "ut let@s be honest!!!isn#t this what ended up happening in the end anyway( Is it

not better to partner with the company that you know could move and sell your devices and

integrate well into their $ramework, rather than take the chance o$ siding with a mobile market

that has never success$ully gotten its own struggling mobile division o$$ the ground(

I guess only time will tell! ?he umia phones are shaping up to be good devices, make no

mistake! "ut whether the public will openly embrace them enough to save Nokia $rom its

$inancial woes is yet to be seen, and i$ they actually do regret the decision is probably nothing

they would ever admit anytime soon!


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Assignment # 04


Elop: Why Nokia chose Windows Phone over Android?

Nokia 3E Stephen Elop has once again stepped to the $ore$ront to de$end and de$ine the

:innish cell phone manu$acturer#s decision to run .indows 0hone B as its primary mobileplat$orm!

?he most recent in a series o$ appearances came today at Cualcomm#s Uplin- con$erence in

San &iego, 3ali$! ?here, Elop described why Nokia chose to avoid the 'oogle Android

bandwagon and sided with Microso$t instead!

Ecosystems are where the mobile battle is now, Elop said, instead o$ simply devices!

4ur strategic premise at Nokia is that there is an opportunity $or a third and competitive

ecosystem to emerge, and that is the basis on which we are going $orward!4

?hough Nokia#s boss admitted that in building Android phones, the company 4would be


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Assignment # 04


Time for Nokia to Switch to Android?

It has been well over two years since Nokia leapt $rom its burning plat$orm into a Microso$t=

designed li$eboat that 3E Stephen Elop said would carry it to shore! Yet today the companyremains adri$t with no sign o$ land$all in sight! And shareholder patience with its progress is

wearing thin!

?o wit, the $ractious general meeting Nokia held ?uesday, which was reportedly peppered with

calls $or the company to reconsider its bet on Microso$t@s .indows 0hone operating system!

.hy, when Samsung has had such success with 'oogle@s Android S, does Nokia insist on

sticking with .indows(

.ith Android, Samsung is capturing D percent o$ the handset industry@s pro$its F the other +B

percent going to Apple! Meanwhile, with .indows 0hone, Nokia is capturing nothing! 'iven

that vast disparity in per$ormance, isn@t it about time Nokia and its leadership reassess the

company@s commitment to .indows 0hone and take a good hard look at Android(

As one shareholder bluntly put it, >?he e9ecutive team is doing its best! "ut it@s not enough! Are

you aware that results are what matter( ?he road to hell is paved with good intentions! 0lease

switch to another road!G

Not an entirely unreasonable suggestion, considering Nokia@s downward tra


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Assignment # 04


Would a switch to Android rescue Nokia? Sadly Probably Not

.ith Nokia continuing to languish, investors have understandably become $rustrated with 3E

Stephen Elop! As we saw earlier this week, investors implored Elop to reconsider his decision to

go e9clusively with .indows 0hone as Nokia@s mobile plat$orm despite the $act that it hasn@t at

all helped the company boost its market share against rivals Apple and Samsung! Elop did

nothing to ease investors@ $ears by stubbornly asserting that his only >0lan "G was to make his

.indows 0hone >0lan AG succeeds! I$ Nokia@s $ortunes don@t improve markedly by the end o$

the year, I can imagine shareholders ousting Elop and replacing him with someone who will

branch out the company@s operating system port$olio to include Android!

"ut while it@s easy to simply say that a switch to Android would give Nokia a boost, as

All?hings&@s John 0ac8kowski does, it@s very unlikely that releasing an Android=based umia

would do much to change the company@s $ortunes! ?he reason $or this is pretty straight$orward%

Samsung is the only Android vendor that pulls a consistent and signi$icant pro$it! ?he multitudeo$ other Android vendors, $rom ' to /?3 to Motorola, is lucky to make any money at all $rom

the plat$orm in a given -uarter!

Now, i$ the /?3 ne does as well as /?3 is hoping and helps the company@s earnings shoot

upward, then I@ll have to reassess my thinking! "ut $or the time being, it@s

nokia vs. android

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