According to Bloomberg’s Businessweek, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop has been talking with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer about a partnership that would put Microsoft’s mobile OS on Nokia phones.
The rumored partnership tails yesterday’s published memo from Elop to his employees that the Nokia “platform is burning.” For a company in crisis, finding the right software could help pull the cell phone manufacturer out of the fire.
Sources were quiet as the talks are still underway, but BW reports that Elop also held talks with Google CEO Eric Schmidt about using Google’s Android software, but a source said those discussions are unlikely to lead to an alliance. An image of a Nokia LOL cat is coming to mind, “Haz hardware, needz software?” Seems like the Snake game wasn’t enough for Nokia to survive in a smartphone dominated world.
Stay tuned until tomorrow when Elop plans to unveils Nokia’s comeback strategy in London. N.B. that Elop began at Nokia in September after a short period as head of Microsoft’s business software division.
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If Nokia and Microsoft team up could they take on Google and Apple? Likely not, but its a challenge worth rising to if it means saving Nokia from its inevitable fall from hardware grace.
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