Phone maker is reportedly in talks with Microsoft and Google
Nokia is in talks with Microsoft about a partnership that will help the two companies to better compete with Google and Apple, according to reports.
The phone maker may also strike a deal with Google to use its Android software for phones. However, all three companies have declined to comment on the matter.
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop is expected to present his strategy to investors in London on Friday.
Elop, a previous employee at Microsoft, has already indicated that Nokia may witness a major overhaul and that it might also go for a third party operating system, outside its own Symbian software. In an internal memo of the company, Elop wrote, "Nokia, our platform is burning. It will be a huge effort to transform our company."
Nokia’s profits had registered a drop of 16% in the fourth-quarter last year.
Increasingly, the high-end and midrange smartphone markets are being captured by Apple and Google’s Android OS run smartphones. Nokia has failed to make an impact in the large and profitable North America market. Meanwhile, in the low-end hand-set market, Nokia’s profits have dipped following the entry of less-expensive Asian alternatives.
However, Microsoft is also lagging behind in the smartphone market. Its OS for mobile phones, Windows 7, has not lived up to expectations. And a study by research firm Canalys placed smartphones running Windows 7 at 3.1% of the global smartphone market in the fourth quarter, behind Google’s Android, Nokia’s Symbian and Apple’s platform.
