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Google: We tried to woo Nokia over to our fold

By on February 16, 2011 11:37 am

 

 

Think that the deal between Microsoft and Nokia was like a match made in heaven? Far from it, especially if Google has got anything to do about it. According to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, the search giant had actively attempted to woo Nokia over into taking back their 'pissing in the pants for short-term relief' comment and join the Android fold even before Microsoft approached the Finnish handset manufacturer.

 

When Nokia made the headlines last year with the announcement that its newest CEO would hail directly from the Redmond software giant known as Microsoft, many started to speculate that it would only be a matter of time before the Finnish handset manufacturer dropped its Symbian and MeeGo mobile operating systems in favor of Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 OS. And it made perfect sense too: with Symbian steadily losing market share to the likes of Android, iOS and even the recently-launched Windows Phone 7, it was clear that Nokia needed to take action to stem the tide.

However, it appears that Microsoft was not the only contender in the bid to sway Nokia into using its own mobile platform as a replacement for Symbian. According to a statement made by Eric Schmidt at this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC), Google had already been actively holding discussions with Nokia's board even before Microsoft made its move in an attempt to convince the Finnish company to consider migrating to the popular Android operating system instead of casting their lot with Windows Phone 7.

"We had confidential negotiations with Nokia that were every extensive," he said.

That being said, at least one analyst thinks that Nokia made the right choice by passing up on the Android ecosystem and opting to strike a partnership with Windows Phone 7. Tony Cripps, a principal analyst for Ovum, claims that there was no doubt that Nokia's board had carefully weighed the pros and cons of going with either platform.

"Nokia devices in the future would have been vectors for Google services, whereas Microsoft has been relatively good at pinpointing ways in which assets could be leveraged on both sides," he said.

Needless to say, the Google CEO was disappointed that things did not go his way, although he seemed to have taken it in his stride.

"We would have loved if they had chosen Android. They chose the other guys," he quipped.

Source: Reuters, Computing Analysis

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