UNITED KINGDOM: Nokia announces it will use Windows Phone as its main software platform

Record ID: 451965

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Nokia announces it will use Windows Phone as its main software platform
  • Date: 12th February 2011
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FEBRUARY 11, 2011) (REUTERS) ***CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WAITING FOR NOKIA NEWS CONFERENCE TO BEGIN, LARGE SCREENS READING "NOKIA" NOKIA CHIEF EXECUTIVE STEPHEN ELOP WALKING ONTO STAGE (SOUNDBITE) (English) NOKIA CHIEF EXECUTIVE STEPHEN ELOP, SAYING: "Nokia is facing challenging and very dynamic times right now. We have fierce competition from many different directions, whether it's different ecosystems at the high end, in the mid range, at the low end - all of those types of things. The entire smartphone market is growing rapidly and we should be setting the pace. The game has changed. The game has changed from a battle of devices to a war of ecosystems." AUDIENCE LISTENING ELOP ANNOUNCING STEVE BALLMER, CEO OF MICROSOFT AUDIENCE APPLAUDING WHILE MICROSOFT CEO STEVE BALLMER WALKS ONTO STAGE AND SHAKS HANDS WITH ELOP (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICROSOFT CEO STEVE BALLMER, SAYING: "This partnership with Nokia will accelerate, dramatically accelerate the development of a vibrant, strong, Windows Phone ecosystem. The fact that Nokia has a primary focus on Windows Phone hardware and services really means we can work with them in a different kind of a way to aggressively drive innovation on the Windows Phone platform." VARIOUS OF AUDIENCE ELLMER AND ELOP SEATED ON STAGE BEN WOOD, RESEARCH DIRECTOR AT CCS INSIGHT, TALKING TO REPORTER AFTER NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) RESEARCH DIRECTOR AT CCS INSIGHT, BEN WOOD, SAYING: "I think there is uncertainty around this announcement at the moment because it's gone much further than people anticipated. Yes, there was a lot of speculation that Nokia would licence the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 platform, but no ne realised the depth of partnership with Nokia gifting its services to Microsoft and trying to add value to the platform and staking its whole future on this platform was going to come to fruition. And therefore there is a lot of risk." VARIOUS OF NOKIA PHONES
  • Embargoed: 27th February 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom, United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Industry,Science / Technology
  • Reuters ID: LVA1V2PAU2BU7UADEAN2BFIMZIJ4
  • Story Text: Nokia and Microsoft teamed up on Friday (February 11) to build an iPhone killer in a desperate attempt to take on Google and Apple in the fast-growing smartphone market.
    Shares in the world's largest cellphone maker fell sharply on uncertainty about the financial impact of Nokia's new chief executive Stephen Elop's strategic u-turn which will use Microsoft's Windows Phone software in its smartphones.
    "Nokia is facing challenging and very dynamic times right now. We have fierce competition from many different directions, whether it's different ecosystems at the high end, in the mid range, at the low end - all of those types of things. The entire smartphone market is growing rapidly and we should be setting the pace. The game has changed. The game has changed from a battle of devices to a war of ecosystems," said Elop, who was drafted in from Microsoft last September to turn Nokia around.
    The deal marks a potential breakthrough for Microsoft, which should get its software into upwards of 30 million smartphones sold by Nokia every quarter, but the software company's shares fell slightly as investors weighed its merits.
    "This partnership with Nokia will accelerate, dramatically accelerate the development of a vibrant, strong, Windows Phone ecosystem. The fact that Nokia has a primary focus on Windows Phone hardware and services really means we can work with them in a different kind of a way to aggressively drive innovation on the Windows Phone platform," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told a news conference in London.
    Nokia plans to use Microsoft's Bing search engine across its cellphones, a huge boost for Microsoft as it seeks to challenge Google as the world's leading search engine.
    The partnership will mean thousands of job cuts at Nokia around the world, with a dramatic reduction in research and development spending.
    Investors were unconvinced by Elop's new strategy and Nokia shares tumbled 10 percent after it said 2011 and 2012 would be "transition years," fuelling fears of a margin hit.
    Analyst Ben Wood said the announcement went much further than anticipated.
    "I think there is uncertainty around this announcement at the moment because it's gone much further than people anticipated. Yes, there was a lot of speculation that Nokia would licence the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 platform, but noone realised the depth of partnership with Nokia gifting its services to Microsoft and trying to add value to the platform and staking its whole future on this platform was going to come to fruition. And therefore there is a lot of risk," he said.
    Nokia has rapidly lost share in higher-margin smartphones as Apple's iPhone, and products based on Google's Android platform, have revolutionised the market.
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