There have been numerous rumors over the years that Nokia would finally give in and support Android on some handsets. Although the likelihood must have diminished when it agreed to sell its devices business to Microsoft, there are still those who believe that the Windows giant could allow Google’s OS to infiltrate its camp, in the interests of building up scale in emerging markets.
According to sources who spoke to The Verge blog, Nokia has been working all year on a handset codenamed Normandy, which uses a ‘forked’ variant of Android rather than Google’s preferred version. Using the Android code to create a somewhat different operating system, which can still tap into the main OS’s huge applications base relatively easily, is becoming a popular way to build a mobile platform without being too reliant on the search giant and its web services. Amazon is the most famous example, along with various Chinese challengers such as Alibaba.
However, while such an approach would bring Nokia’s low end models ‘ perhaps even its successful Asha ‘smart featurephones’ ‘ into the apps mainstream, it would still create conflicts of interest for Microsoft.
One of the big decisions the Windows firm will face once it completes the acquisition will be how to evolve the software platform for Asha and other ranges targeted at the smartphone entry level. This space is essential to capture if Microsoft is serious about getting significant handset market share (which is a dubious goal for a software firm in the first place, but that’s another matter). But Windows Phone is ill-suited to very low end models, and Nokia sidelined its project to develop its own Linux-based OS for affordable, cloud-connected devices, though some of the work, especially around the Xpress browser, lives on in Asha.
Microsoft could create a slimline Windows or invest in a new Linux/browser platform building on Asha, Xpress, Nokia Series 40 and its own Linux projects. The latter would be the bold way to try to be a driver in the next generation of cloud-oriented mobile OSs, rather than remaining a distant follower behind Google and Apple. But it remains to be seen whether the company is serious about being a large-scale device vendor, rather than merely seeing the devices as a way to extend Windows’ reach.
If it wants the former, Android would be a quicker route to market than a new platform, and Microsoft could adopt Amazon’s approach to ensure its OS was a challenger to Google rather than extending the search giant’s empire. However, its own new system would give it greater control and opportunity to innovate. Microsoft has shown signs of cutting the umbilical cord with Windows recently, and looking to support several operating systems ‘ the Xbox One, for instance, runs its own games-optimized OS, Windows, and a virtualization system to integrate the two. A similar approach could be applied to handsets, whether the non-Windows element were Android or something else (if Microsoft does not have the appetite to launch yet another new OS of its own, it could become godfather to one of the new arrivals such as Jolla’s Sailfish, which already relies on code from Nokia’s MeeGo project).
Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia’s device business has been approved by the Finnish firm’s shareholders, and by US and EU authorities and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014.