Mike Elgan: Why Nokia is toast - Computerworld

Mike Elgan: Why Nokia is toast - Computerworld

A provocative and opinionated article, with some interesting points...
I think there is a good potential in Nokia-Microsoft synergy...
in particular for developers using Microsoft tools...



"Nokia and Microsoft this week announced a new partnership that would replace the Symbian OS with Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 as the software for Nokia's smartphones, which accounts for some 30% of their handset revenue.
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Google VP Vic Gundotra tweeted ungenerously that "Two turkeys do not make an Eagle." Ouch!
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My view is that Microsoft doesn't matter. Although Windows Phone 7 is a way better operating system than Symbian, Nokia's problem isn't Symbian, and the solution isn't Windows Phone 7.
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Apple and Google are winning because they have winning strategies. Nokia is losing because it has a losing strategy. It's as simple as that.
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Nokia should take the advice Steve Jobs gave to Nike CEO Mark Parker: "Just get rid of the crappy stuff and focus on the good stuff."
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In a nutshell, Nokia fails on design, branding and simplicity. Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 will solve none of these problems.
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When you go to the Apple site, there is only one phone -- Apple's best. You can't buy the wrong phone. You can't live in the wrong country.
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Yet just a year and a half after Nokia's pullout, Apple was capturing an incredible 72% of Japan's smartphone market.

Apple succeeded in Japan where Nokia failed because Apple offered Japanese consumers better
design, better branding and more simplicity -- not the opposite.
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winning strategy for Nokia is clear: Sell only two phones.
* ultimate minimalist, tiny, super-reliable cell phone that does not connect to the Internet.
* ultimate smartphone based on Windows Phone 7.