Nokia is betting the farm on Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system, sending its existing Symbian platform off into the sunset over the next couple years so the company can focus exclusively on Windows Phone devices. However, even thought the companies announced this partnership back in February at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, would you believe they still having dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s on the formal terms of the arrangement? Not to fear, says Nokia: according to Nokia’s head of corporate development Kai Oistama, the deal is proceeding as planned.
“Negotiations have progressed very well. They will be concluded well on schedule,” Oistamo told Reuters.
Although Nokia has shown some concepts for Windows Phone devices and is already working on Windows Phone devices, the amount of time the companies are taking to finalize the deal has some industry watchers wondering just how quickly the partnership will bear fruit. Although some analysts forecast a rosy future for Windows Phone, the simple truth is that the platform’s competition—like Android, Apple’s iOS, and RIM’s BlackBerry platform—are already very well established in worldwide markets, and the first Windows Phone devices from Nokia aren’t expected until late 2011 at the earliest.
In the meantime, Microsoft has been having Windows Phone problems of its own, including difficulties rolling out software upgrades to customers.
