Nokia’s CEO, Stephen Elop told The Guardian, "What we were worried about a couple of years ago was the very high risk that one hardware manufacturer could come to dominate Android. We had a suspicion of who it might be, because of the resources available, the vertical integration, and we were respectful of the fact that we were quite late in making that decision."
While Nokia has continued to innovate when it comes to developing new hardware and software, supporting the Windows Phone platform like a lone ranger, the apparent lack of interest from Microsoft, specially with updates being far and few has led to disappointing smartphone sales for the Finnish handset giant.
It goes back to early 2011 when Nokia CEO when Nokia realised that it needed something more than Symbian to march ahead in a world which was switching to Apple's iPhone and phones based on Google's Android operating system. Stephen Elop chose his former employer Microsoft as the company's saviour in a bid to become a competitive third alternative. That, unfortunately, hash't happened even after being in transition for the last two years. A number of technology evangelists and Nokia loyalists have questioned Elop's motive in choosing Windows Phone over Android, adding that the steady pace at which Nokia develops new hardware, it would have made perfect sense for the company to have adopted Android, adding its own apps on top and customising it to its own choice.
At a recent round table with journalists, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop responded to this question, saying that he still feels that the company made the right decision. Elop said at the time of making the switch, he was worried that a particular hardware manufacturer (read Samsung) could have dominated Android due to its resources, vertical integration and because Nokia would have been a late entrant in the Android space. The comment was first reported by The Guardian.
Elop even said that there are a number of Android devices in the market capable of replacing the top phones but Samsung manages to overshadow its Android counterparts.
"Examine the Android ecosystem, and there's a lot of good devices from many different companies, but one company has essentially now become the dominant player." Elop even said that he doesn’t want Nokia to be a company struggling with finances like HTC. They would rather be the ‘third alternative’.
"As an operator [AT&T] wants to negotiate with different people and keep pressure on everybody and have the best range of options, [and] wants that third alternative. So strategically we have an opening with AT&T and every other operator in the world - because we've taken that path as the third ecosystem."
Elop also said that it's been difficult, as Nokia's use of the Windows Phone platform makes it a credibility-seeking challenger with phones like the new Nokia Lumia 1020 running Windows Phone 8, reports Tech Radar.
Elop still maintains that the company’s agreement with Microsoft was the right move. He added, "It was the right decision. You look at a number of other Android providers right now and they're in a tough spot."
While Elop might defend the company's move by highlighting Samsung's current domination of the platform, Windows Phone is still not doing as well as the company expects. Nokia managed to sell 7.4 million Lumia devices in the last quarter, up 32 percent compared to the previous quarter but its revenues decreased inline with the Average Selling Price of its smartphones. Also, it's only budget devices like the Lumia 520 which are contributing to the surge in sales, which was recently confirmed as the most popular Windows Phone in the world.
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