Is Android Nokia’s Biggest Threat

Although the iPhone is currently raking in the profits for Apple, the numbers don’t seem to mean much to Nokia’s CEO who told the Financial Times he sees Android as the biggest threat to his companies future.

Android is on tons of phones and has enjoyed tons of success. There is no question Google will keep supporting it and it will only get better with time. Apple makes one phone, but it sells and people who want it will do with nothing less. Some say Android is fragmented, it’s too differentiated and there are too many updates. A lot of the apps that run on Android 2.2 wont work right in 2.1. Plus With the number of Android phones available you can buy a phone without really noticing what version it’s running and end up with a dated device that won’t do what you expect, it’s kind of a mess. But Google is working it out. Apple dosen’t have that problem, they make one phone one mobile OS and update both yearly.  Both OS’ are great, I use Android but I respect iOS. Which one is better? That’s a matter of choice. Why is Stephen Elop, Nokia’s CEO worried Android might be the next king of mobile OS'? Here’s what I think.

I think the thing you have to take into consideration here is that Nokia makes phones, they still make Symbian, but since their deal with Microsoft, they won’t be doing that anymore soon, so the only thing they’ll be left with is designing and manufacturing phones. Where they used to be a software/hardware developer like Apple, their now just making hardware like HTC and Samsung. So I can see the shift in focus, he told the Financial Times that Nokia has been very clear that their number one “competitive consideration” is Android. They not only have to compete with Apple but all the other companies designing phones and tablets using Android not to mention other OS’ like WebOS. So Nokia has some catching up to do if they want to bring WP7 up to speed.

So once Google works out the kinks and starts releasing yearly updates rather than chaotically whenever they have something new to show off, Android is going to be a force to be reckoned with, not only on phones but on tablets as well, which Nokia is going to have to start thinking about sooner or later in my opinion.

• By: kareem@techsual.com
• Source: Financial Times