Microsoft and Nokia Make an Impact
Smartphone markets around the world are poised for the newest entrant: Windows Phone 7 + Nokia Handsets. This pair is poised to go head-to-head with Apple, Android, Blackberry and Palm (not significant, but with HP backing who knows?).
Historically, the folks at Microsoft have had a steady following and proved years ago that they took mobile seriously, but just maybe not seriously enough. When the iPhone hit the marketplace, its fair to say they were not the only competitor to feel the bite, and equally fair to say they have taken the longest to react. And of all the news that warrants serious consideration in terms of Microsoft having a legitimate chance of competing, the aforementioned partnership is perhaps the biggest.
While the Nokia blog gives “Five reasons to get excited about a Microsoft partnership“, including tight integration with Microsoft Office, Zune Marketplace music, and XBox Live, it may be the fact that MS is pairing with a world class logisitics operation is the most significant indication of future success. Nokia has the ability to launch tens of handsets per year, and a low cost. Thus, Windows Phone 7 devices will be able to meet the needs of each niche in the device marketplace, something only Android can match today.
One other advantage is the breadth of Nokia’s current brand: it covers the globe and does not need to establish itself anywhere.
But back to the ‘consumer facing’ reasons why this duo will succeed: XBox Live is a popular service, millions and millions of people worldwide use Windows and Office, and the Zune experience is streamlined and polished. It seems to add up to a great amount of potential. The iPhone launched into the stratosphere on the back of iTunes and millions of trained MP3 purchasers (not to mention the fantastic device).
A question I have concerns the marketplace for Apps: will it run off the XBox Live platform, Zune, Nokia’s Ovi, or a hybrid of these? (this blogger seems to think the latter)
Can MS + Nokia garner this same type of momentum on the backs of XBox, Zune and Office, coupled to a steady flow of devices?
