FINALLY.
Some clear thinking at Nokia. Wow. And what a memo it is.
FINALLY. Someone at the top of Nokia notices what I’ve noticed by traveling the world. Nokia is in serious trouble.
Can Stephen Elop jump his company off of the burning platform, as he put it, and do something interesting?
Well, at least the execs are not sounding arrogant anymore (first time in years!) and they aren’t saying “we are the marketshare leader.” As if THAT ever matters! Just ask all the “market share leaders” who have disappeared into the bowels of the Computer History Museum.
So, what’s the post-burn Nokia look like?
We’ll find out Friday, but it sure looks like he’s working on the list of things I laid out.
In the meantime Google’s VP, Vic Gundotra, is adding gas to the fire with his tweet saying “two turkeys do not make an eagle.” What does he mean? Oh, Nokia hardware with Microsoft Windows Phone 7 OS won’t make a good smartphone.
Vic is pretty correct. Microsoft is late to the party and Nokia is even later. Google is in a much better spot, especially on software and services.
But Vic better watch out for this “turkey” NokiaWP7 device, or family of devices. Why? They seem to be playing a lot of Angry Birds over at Nokia and if you put a turkey into a catapult it can do a lot of damage to Google.
It seems to me that Nokia is changing the game, or trying to. While Google is playing Flight Simulator, Nokia is playing Angry Birds. And, no, Google hasn’t been acting like the mighty eagle, either, lately. Just ask the Wave team.
I actually like using Windows Phone 7 better than I like using Android. Can they capitalize on that, or will Google come out with a revamped Android OS with new UI that makes them the user experience thought leader?
Also, counting Microsoft out seems like a no brainer. Hell, I left Microsoft four years ago because I knew the product pipeline was dry. I was right. But now Steve Ballmer has a fire lit under his own behind and can point to Kinect as a consumer success. A huge success. Fastest selling new product in history.
So, if Microsoft and Nokia can pull harder on the Xbox brand they have a real shot at doing some damage to Google. That turkey might end up looking like an Angry Bird that takes out a good piece of a building over in Mountain View.
Plus, Nokia does have nice maps (NAVTEQ and Microsoft have been partners for a long time) and they do make nice hardware. Love those cameras and radios!
So, with a new, flattened Nokia (what happens when your company jumps off something and hits the water? It gets flatter!) and a new partnership with Microsoft, Elop is ready for some Angry Birds wars with Google and Apple.
I’m not counting them out. But Elop sure has to aim that turkey carefully. He only has one shot and if he aims wrong that turkey will fly off the screen without hitting Google or Apple. Aim right, though, and we could have some new fun!
Oh, and GDGT’s Peter Rojas? Right on about the Nokia fanboys. They have always been wrong and now Stephen Elop has put them in the jail they so rightfully deserve being in.