Nokia has been positioning itself for a rapid-fire release strategy after the launch of the world’s first Windows Phone-powered Nokia handset, according to Jo Harlow, Nokia’s executive vice president of smart devices. Despite the fact that Nokia and Microsoft finalized their partnership back in March, we consumers will continue waiting for a Mango-flavored Nokia phone until Fall rolls around.
“We should be launching new devices in a rhythm that might be every couple of months, every three months, something like that,” said Ms. Harlow. The first Windows Phone launched in October, and since then, we haven’t seen many more grace carrier shelves. Gartner marks the Windows Phone OS fifth among major platforms, with a measly 3.6 percent market share. Microsoft’s weak performance in the mobile OS space could be blamed on the fact that WP7 has been a “secondary platform” for most big-name manufacturers such as Samsung and HTC, said Harlow.
Coupling Windows Phone with the most popular handset maker in the world, Nokia, could bolster Windows Phone OS popularity, since Mango will be the primary platform for Nokia beginning this Fall. “We’re going to keep coming with new devices in order to have something to talk about,” she said.
Nokia has already made an impression on the Windows Phone OS, as Nokia mapping software and perhaps some of its cloud services will be present on the platform. Harlow said that the Nokia Music Store may replace Zune in certain countries where Microsoft doesn’t have a major presence.