Nokia CEO (and former Microsoft executive) Stephen Elop has told Reuters that the mobile phone giant has begun work on the first smartphones based on Microsoft’s software.
The tidbit of news comes about a month after the Finland-based company announced the partnership with Microsoft along with a series of management and organizational changes.
Nokia’s chief executive, who transitioned to that role after leaving his position as president of the Microsoft Business Division, also commented on speculation that Microsoft might lodge an attempt to acquire Nokia:
I’m not aware of a strategic interest that Microsoft would have in the rest of the business.
To the extent that a partnership has been formed around what they’re really interested in, then what would an acquisition bring other than a good year of anti-trust investigation, huge turmoil, delays?
Elop said he hopes to produce a Nokia-Windows phone by the end of this year, although we might have to wait until well into 2012 to really start seeing the fruits of their labor.
It better be worth the trouble: Nokia’s decision to dump its software platform in favor of Microsoft’s unproven Windows Phone software already wiped 29 percent off its share price.
NOKIA is a Finnish multinational communications corporation. It is primarily engaged in the manufacturing of mobile devices and in converging Internet and communications industries. They make a wide range of mobile devices with services and software that enable people to experience music, navigation, video, television, imaging, games, business mobility and more. Nokia is the owner of Symbian operation system and partially owns MeeGo operating system.
Stephen Elop joined Nokia as President and Chief Executive Officer as of September 21, 2010. Most recently, Stephen served as president of Microsoft’s Business Division and was a member of Microsoft’s senior leadership team responsible for the company’s overall strategy. In this position, he oversaw the Microsoft Office systems and other communications tools and applications for consumers, small and mid-size businesses, as well as large organisations and enterprises. Previously Stephen was Chief Operating Officer of Juniper Networks, a leading provider of...
Windows Phone 7 is the successor of the Windows Mobile 6.5 mobile operating system in development by Microsoft, scheduled for release by October 2010. Microsoft’s goal is to create a compelling and predictable user experience by redesigning the user interface, disallowing partners to modify or replace it, integrating the operating system with other services, and strictly controlling the hardware it runs on.
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