Everybody gets down to the groove with Elop
Nokia's Stephen Elop is as committed as ever to the Windows Phone path he began to lead the company down last year, according to a report by AllThingsD. As Symbian gradually closed its eyes in the pit of smartphone doom, Elop shifted Nokia's focus to Windows Phone. This move gave consumers the first generation Lumia family. Recently the company unveiled the Lumia 820 and Lumia 920 that will both be running Windows Phone 8.
When interviewed about how well the current generation hardware performed, Elop responded somewhat disappointed with results of the Lumia push.
"I’ve said this at our results.., in getting the first Lumia devices out there, I would have liked to have done better. There is no question."
Elop does continue to explain that with Windows Phone the company has more room to differentiate itself from other smartphone vendors, particularly those supporting Android. Through Microsoft's mobile platform, Nokia is able to create innovative hardware in a less competitive eco-system - being able to focus more on rejuvenating the brand and marketing the platform without the immediate thread of other OEMs.
It was, is and will be a difficult time for Nokia. The transition to Windows Phone is still on-going and dampening sales from lack of brand development and adoption will hurt the Finnish manufacturer for some time to come - we recently looked at the company potentially selling up its HQ. Whether Windows Phone 8 can rescue Nokia and push Microsoft's mobile platform up in the marketshare charts is yet to be seen.
Elop believes the company failed to effectively market the original Lumias in Europe, revealing to AllThingsD that they made the incorrect decision to release hardware on as many carriers as possible. When the Lumia 900 was launched in the US, it was made exclusively available to AT&T. When asked if Microsoft is offering much needed support, Elop remained fairly neutral.
"There’s a lot of complexity to partnership, but in terms of the fundamental commitment that we made to each other — in terms of our commitment to Windows Phone, to do our very best work for them, and for them to work closely with us, minute by minute, feature by feature, we’re getting that."
Microsoft Windows Phone concept
CEO Stephen Elop was also queried as to whether or not he's aware of Microsoft developing its own Windows Phone. We've previously covered the software giant going down the mobile hardware path and broke news that Redmond is indeed working on a device, according to sources.
"I have no indications they are planning to do their own phone. They can do it if they so choose."
We could take this as a soft denial-styled confirmation that Microsoft is working on a smartphone of its own, and that Mr Elop is indeed aware of such a project being undertaken at Redmond. Would it be an issue for Nokia should Microsoft launch its own Windows Phone? It depends how the software giant would go about marketing said device. Microsoft urged HTC to innovate on the platform, which led to the manufacturer's latest hardware - the HTC 8X and HTC 8S.
Microsoft would most probably restrict availability of a potential in-house Windows Phone to its online store, as well as Microsoft Stores across the US. Should this take place, consumers who are after the most pure Windows Phone experience would be able to make the leap to an all-out Microsoft mobile solution.
What do you make of Elop's comments, and how do you believe Microsoft's potential Windows Phone will affect the platform?
Source: AllThingsD
