Nokia's renaissance

Nokia needed to do something different. It needed to reinvent itself, redefine its market, and in so doing, gain a competitive edge over adversaries that are eating its lunch. Nokia needed a renaissance. And it found two. We're only going to see one, however.

Windows Phone is the ocean and Nokia is one of the boats on the harbour that will rise with the tide.

Simon Dingle, contributor, ITWeb

The wheels were set in motion for Nokia's big comeback before it switched tracks. At the beginning of this year, the company changed its strategy and adopted Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system for its smartphone range, effectively ditching its own Symbian operating system and casting MeeGo - the system it had been working on in partnership with processor giant Intel - aside.

Ironically, it is MeeGo that would have been Nokia's renaissance. As part of former CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo's strategy to redeem Nokia in the smartphone market, MeeGo was something that most technology analysts, myself included, dismissed at first glance. It had a silly name, for one, and offered no reason to believe it would offer anything spectacularly different to Apple's iOS or Google's Android.

But now MeeGo has landed in the form of Nokia's N9 device. And it's good. Very good.

Elop's strategy is proving to be a good one. He told me he would first focus Nokia on improving the Microsoft ecosystem by ploughing his company's innovations in mapping, music and other services back into the Windows Phone environment, to the benefit of all manufacturers committed to the ecosystem. The plan was to first promote the ecosystem and then boost Nokia.

Windows Phone is the ocean and Nokia is one of the boats on the harbour that will rise with the tide. And the tide is rising. With Nokia onboard, Windows 8 gearing up for the tablet market, and a strong roadmap of product releases from Samsung, HTC and other vendors in 2012, I'd be very surprised if Microsoft doesn't show strong growth in the smartphone market over the next two years. Investors are already starting to reward Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his team for the direction they've taken with healthy projections. And Microsoft's success is Nokia's success.

But back to the N9. This would have been the beginning of Nokia's renaissance sans Microsoft. I am yet to read a bad review of the N9. It is profoundly awesome. Most technology pundits seem to agree with me that this is one of the best smartphones - if not the best - that is currently available.

The N9 is different. It isn't trying to be an iPhone. It is beautifully designed, has an incredible camera and an amazing screen. The battery life is good. It's solid and robust. Best of all - MeeGo is a winner and the 'Swipe' interface Nokia developed for the N9 is innovative, providing a user interface that strongly rivals the iPhone and blows Android away completely.

It's an amazing, beautiful and affordable device. And it's doomed.

Unfortunately, the N9 will never receive the kind of marketing push it would have had without Windows Phone invading its space. It won't get the kind of primary support from developers it would have otherwise had, and we will never know how well it would have done against competitors with the full force of Nokia behind it. Because now all the N9 is is a neglected second child that has to make way for the Windows Phone.

I am writing this column aboard a flight to London, where Nokia World takes place this week. On Wednesday morning, Stephen Elop will take to the stage and introduce the world to the first Nokia devices based on the Windows Phone platform. I have reason to believe that Elop will also have at least one surprise up his sleeve.

This will begin Nokia's climb back to prominence in the mobile phone market. We have already seen demand for its feature phones - the cheaper devices that dominate the market - pick up in the last quarter, and this pop in sales, along with a new set of smartphones free of Symbian, should prop up the company and set it back on a growth path. It's good times for Nokia and Microsoft.

But you have to wonder... what would have happened if Kallasvuo was never ousted, Nokia stuck to its guns with MeeGo, and never made the switch to Microsoft? The N9 would have launched, feature phone sales would have picked up as emerging market telecommunications networks spread, and Nokia may well have had its renaissance free of Microsoft.

We'll never know for sure. And while the N9 will enjoy some success, we'll never know the full extent of what it could've been.