Comparative (International) Management

Assignment # 04
Reviewed and submitted by: Mansoor Ali Seelro (A !III)
Posted by:

- By Eric McBride, on 4/18/12 2:55 p.m.
- By Jessica Dolcourt, June 2, 2011 1:30 p.m.
- By Brad Reed | BGR News Wed, May 8, 2013


Why Nokia Didn't Go With Android. A Decision They Regret?

Yesterday I wrote an article about how Nokia and Motorola were struggling to gain leverage in
the Smartphone market in Europe, and learned that carriers in the EU were very direct in saying
that Nokia simply cannot compete with Android and IS devices! "ut here#s a $un $act $or you%
&id you know that 'oogle o$$ered Nokia Android be$ore they chose to partner with Microso$t(
It#s true) In $act, they spent a lot o$ time with 'oogle discussing the option, but in the end
decided to go with Microso$t as their operating system o$ choice! Nokia shares are at a *+ year
low, so I think it#s pretty $air to ask , -uestions% *!.hy didn#t Nokia choose Android instead(
And ,! &o they regret their decision( I discussed how Nokia lost their market share and how
they con$idently stated that they could $it into Android#s ecosystem in part * o$ this article,
which can be $ound here! "ut now we will $ind out ./Y Nokia chose not to use the Android
operating system that they admittedly said that they could $it in!
So picking up where we le$t o$$% Nokia dominated mobile, the i0hone and Android arrived,
Nokia lost 112 o$ their market share, their 3E publically admitted that they were being
brought to their knees by the i0hone and Android, and commented that they would $it into
Android#s ecosystem nicely! It seemed like this move would work, and 'oogle was more than
willing! "ut here#s where it gets tricky!
Why They Didn't Choose Android
.hile Nokia had great things to say about Android, they also mentioned .indows phone and
admitted that Android was ahead o$ .indows 0hone% 4Android is growing very nicely5 it has
signi$icant market share! .indows 0hone is in its early $ormative states in terms o$ customer
traction and so $orth!4 /e doesn#t sound that convinced o$ .indows in that statement does he(

Comparative (International) Management
Assignment # 04
Reviewed and submitted by: Mansoor Ali Seelro (A !III)
"ut one thing you should know about Stephen Elop 63E o$ Nokia7% "e$ore working $or Nokia,
he was head o$ the "usiness &ivision $or a little company called!!!you guessed it!!!!Microso$t!
So the relationship was already there, and Microso$t capitali8ed on it! /is additional reasoning
$or choosing Microso$t is comple9 and debatable! .hen asked why .indows 0hone, he
answered at a Nokia press con$erence in :ebruary ,;**% 4It gives us the opportunity to lead! It
gives us a $aster path to the United States marketplace!4 "ut what#s interesting is that he stated
why they were reluctant to use Android, saying that with Android, Nokia handsets would <ust
become 4another Android=running phone>! /e went on to say that 4.e absolutely spent time
with our colleagues at 'oogle! ur $undamental belie$ is we would have di$$iculty
di$$erentiating! ?he commoditi8ation risk was very high!4
A risky move
So basically, it seems that their choice had nothing to do with market share or a technical
advantage, but more because they were a$raid o$ becoming irrelevant or 4<ust another Android
phone>! In their view, a third ecosystem to compete with Apple and Android would be incentive
enough $or carriers to help get Nokia through its problems! Another interesting point I
discovered when I talked to a $ormer Nokia employee was that i$ Nokia would have gone with
Android, they would e$$ectively given 'oogle and Android way too much o$ the market share
that they already dominate, making the only choices $or consumers wanting a Smartphone
Android or IS! "ut let@s be honest!!!isn#t this what ended up happening in the end anyway( Is it
not better to partner with the company that you know could move and sell your devices and
integrate well into their $ramework, rather than take the chance o$ siding with a mobile market
that has never success$ully gotten its own struggling mobile division o$$ the ground(
I guess only time will tell! ?he Aumia phones are shaping up to be good devices, make no
mistake! "ut whether the public will openly embrace them enough to save Nokia $rom its
$inancial woes is yet to be seen, and i$ they actually do regret the decision is probably nothing
they would ever admit anytime soon!



Comparative (International) Management
Assignment # 04
Reviewed and submitted by: Mansoor Ali Seelro (A !III)

Elop: Why Nokia chose Windows Phone over Android?

Nokia 3E Stephen Elop has once again stepped to the $ore$ront to de$end and de$ine the
:innish cell phone manu$acturer#s decision to run .indows 0hone B as its primary mobile
plat$orm!
?he most recent in a series o$ appearances came today at Cualcomm#s Uplin- con$erence in
San &iego, 3ali$! ?here, Elop described why Nokia chose to avoid the 'oogle Android
bandwagon and sided with Microso$t instead!
Ecosystems are where the mobile battle is now, Elop said, instead o$ simply devices!
4ur strategic premise at Nokia is that there is an opportunity $or a third and competitive
ecosystem to emerge, and that is the basis on which we are going $orward!4
?hough Nokia#s boss admitted that in building Android phones, the company 4would be <oining
an ecosystem which is on a winning tra<ectory,4 di$$erentiating the brand was a 4big concern!4
Nokia 3E Stephen Elop has once again stepped to the $ore$ront to de$end and de$ine the
:innish cell phone manu$acturer#s decision to run .indows 0hone B as its primary mobile
plat$orm!
?he most recent in a series o$ appearances came today at Cualcomm#s Uplin- con$erence in
San &iego, 3ali$! ?here, Elop described why Nokia chose to avoid the 'oogle Android
bandwagon and sided with Microso$t instead!
Ecosystems are where the mobile battle is now, Elop said, instead o$ simply devices!
4ur strategic premise at Nokia is that there is an opportunity $or a third and competitive
ecosystem to emerge, and that is the basis on which we are going $orward!4
?hough Nokia#s boss admitted that in building Android phones, the company 4would be <oining
an ecosystem which is on a winning tra<ectory,4 di$$erentiating the brand was a 4big concern!4



Comparative (International) Management
Assignment # 04
Reviewed and submitted by: Mansoor Ali Seelro (A !III)

Time for Nokia to Switch to Android?

It has been well over two years since Nokia leapt $rom its burning plat$orm into a Microso$t=
designed li$eboat that 3E Stephen Elop said would carry it to shore! Yet today the company
remains adri$t with no sign o$ land$all in sight! And shareholder patience with its progress is
wearing thin!
?o wit, the $ractious general meeting Nokia held ?uesday, which was reportedly peppered with
calls $or the company to reconsider its bet on Microso$t@s .indows 0hone operating system!
.hy, when Samsung has had such success with 'oogle@s Android S, does Nokia insist on
sticking with .indows(
.ith Android, Samsung is capturing DE percent o$ the handset industry@s pro$its F the other +B
percent going to Apple! Meanwhile, with .indows 0hone, Nokia is capturing nothing! 'iven
that vast disparity in per$ormance, isn@t it about time Nokia and its leadership reassess the
company@s commitment to .indows 0hone and take a good hard look at Android(
As one shareholder bluntly put it, >?he e9ecutive team is doing its best! "ut it@s not enough! Are
you aware that results are what matter( ?he road to hell is paved with good intentions! 0lease
switch to another road!G
Not an entirely unreasonable suggestion, considering Nokia@s downward tra<ectory the past $ew
years! "ut evidently it@s not one 3E Stephen Elop is willing to entertain right now F even a$ter
a H; percent decline in the company@s share price! Ieally, there@s no easy answer here%
.indows 0hone might be slow to ramp, but there@s no guarantee that Nokia would do any
better with Android, a plat$orm that Samsung has so thoroughly dominated!
>.e@ve made a clear decision to $ocus on .indows 0hone with our Aumia product line,G Elop
said! >And it is with that that we will compete with competitors like Samsung and Android!G
In other words, $or Nokia, .indows 0hone is 0lan A F and 0lan " is that 0lan A must succeed!



Comparative (International) Management
Assignment # 04
Reviewed and submitted by: Mansoor Ali Seelro (A !III)

Would a switch to Android rescue Nokia? Sadly Probably Not

.ith Nokia continuing to languish, investors have understandably become $rustrated with 3E
Stephen Elop! As we saw earlier this week, investors implored Elop to reconsider his decision to
go e9clusively with .indows 0hone as Nokia@s mobile plat$orm despite the $act that it hasn@t at
all helped the company boost its market share against rivals Apple and Samsung! Elop did
nothing to ease investors@ $ears by stubbornly asserting that his only >0lan "G was to make his
.indows 0hone >0lan AG succeeds! I$ Nokia@s $ortunes don@t improve markedly by the end o$
the year, I can imagine shareholders ousting Elop and replacing him with someone who will
branch out the company@s operating system port$olio to include Android!
"ut while it@s easy to simply say that a switch to Android would give Nokia a boost, as
All?hings&@s John 0ac8kowski does, it@s very unlikely that releasing an Android=based Aumia
would do much to change the company@s $ortunes! ?he reason $or this is pretty straight$orward%
Samsung is the only Android vendor that pulls a consistent and signi$icant pro$it! ?he multitude
o$ other Android vendors, $rom A' to /?3 to Motorola, is lucky to make any money at all $rom
the plat$orm in a given -uarter!

Now, i$ the /?3 ne does as well as /?3 is hoping and helps the company@s earnings shoot
upward, then I@ll have to reassess my thinking! "ut $or the time being, it@s <ust very, very di$$icult
to make money selling smart phones unless you@re one o$ the two biggest vendors in the world!
?hat@s obviously a bad position to be in i$ you@re one o$ the smaller vendors and it@s not
something you can admit to your investors without them tearing your head o$$, but it is reality!
Now, that@s not to e9cuse Elop entirely $rom blame $or Nokia@s current predicament! /is
obsession with giving carriers e9clusives o$ devices that limit their e9posure to wider audiences
seems particularly da$t, especially in an era when Apple and Samsung sell the e9act same
devices across multiple carriers! .hat@s more, Nokia@s system $or naming its smart phones is
<ust bi8arre F is the average person walking into a "est "uy going to know the di$$erence
between a Aumia +,;, a Aumia B*;, a Aumia B,;, a Aumia 1,; and a Aumia 1,K(
"ut none o$ these mistakes take away $rom the $act that Apple and Samsung have an iron grip
on Smartphone pro$its and that@s very unlikely to change until one or two o$ the smaller players
e9it the market all together!