MWC 2011: Nokia picked WP7 to 'create a challenger'
Rejected Android to avoid a two-horse race
Nokia's controversial CEO Stephen Elop said in a press conference last night that the company picked Windows Phone 7 because it “creates a challenger” out of the fledgling platform.
Choosing Google's Android platform would have created a “duopoly” of mobile operating systems (presumably iOS and Android, rather than Symbian and bada) that wasn't to the ex-Microsoft man's liking.
Those expecting now to see Symbian suddenly vanish are in for a disappointment, as Elop stressed that the transition over to his ex-employer's mobile OS will be a “carefully managed transition”, and that funding into the system would continue for now.
The deal between MS and Nokia was revealed by Elop to be a standard OEM agreement, rather than the "strategic partnership" that was batted about last week, with Nokia paying for a license to run the software, and would gain access to MS's advertising and search capabilities.
He dismissed allegations that he acted as a Trojan Horse, although that might not placate the hundreds of employees that staged a protest in Finland last friday against his recent actions.
