Nokia (NOK) made two major extensions this week to its platform strategies — one in handsets, one in infrastructure. Both are about finding growth in the face of increasing commoditization.
For more than a year, I’ve wondered when Nokia’s Maemo and Intel’s (INTC) Moblin were going to tie the knot. With Tuesday’s announcement, it’s clear that neither side has made an exclusive commitment, but both parties seem inclined towards something more than a dalliance.
Both Maemo and Moblin are Linux-based platforms for mobile devices such as tablets or netbooks. For Nokia this is more about netbooks than being about phones. For Intel, it’s a chance to break into the phone segment, which it once tried (and failed) with XScale (which 3 years ago Intel sold to Marvell (MRVL)).
Nokia still has both the highest volume and broadest product line of any cellphone maker, as well as unparalleled global distribution through telecoms operators. Nokia is not going to share control with Google (GOOG) in the commodity (i.e. Open) Handset Alliance, so combining the two similar Linux platforms is a way for it to attract at least a few allies going forward.
However, this muddies the Nokia platform strategy considerably. Unlike its rivals, Nokia had a fairly focused platform strategy with the S40 and S60. Going beyond the limited Maemo experiments could muddy its platform waters considerably. What does it mean for Symbian, the technology it bought last year and is now open sourcing? LinuxDevices is pro-Linux, anti-Symbian, and now assumes Linux will displace Symbian:
The partnership news further suggests that the rumors that Nokia is moving forward with Linux -- and not, it seems, Symbian -- devices that combine MID and smartphone characteristics, are true. It also appears that Nokia will likely focus on Linux for its future high-end smartphones, while leaving a soon to be open-sourced Symbian to handle
