Nokia has a contingency plan should Windows Phone fail. Nokia's new boss assured the world the Finnish folks have a Plan B to cover their behinds if the Lumia range powered by Windows Phone software don't reverse their declining fortunes.
Having hitched its wagon to Windows Phone so completely, Nokia is reliant on the operating system's success. The Finnish phone fanciers have already promised cheaper Lumia phones to fight Android, but if that doesn't work and Windows Phone fails to take off, Nokia has to have a Plan B.
Speaking to Yle Uutiset, Nokia's new chairman Risto Siilasmaa promised tough cuts to get back in the game before the company is forced to fall back on its contingency plan. But what is Plan B?
Whatever the back-up plan is, it's not Symbian: Siilasmaa ruled out focusing on the venerable software, which powers low-cost phones.
It's also unlikely to be Meltemi, another operating system beng developed by Nokia. Meltemi was a casualty of recent swingeing cuts, along with the fancy phone brand Vertu and, sadly, thousands of jobs.
Could Nokia have Android quietly waiting in the wings? Some observers think Nokia should have adopted Android in the first place, but Nokia felt differently, arguing that it's hard to stand out among the Android crowd. Still, if Windows Phone tanks, it's not inconceivable that Nokia could switch to Android.
On the one hand, Android is great and with Jelly Bean it's just getting better. And on the other hand, what other choice is there?
I'd understand if Nokia was a bit cross with Microsoft at the moment. Unveiling Windows Phone 8, Microsoft revealed that current phones not only won't get the WP8 update, but new apps won't work on current phones either. With Windows Phone still in its infancy, that's a real slap in the face for those fans who have switched to Windows Phone with a recent Nokia Lumia.
Looking past that bump in the road, Nokia is set to benefit from the forthcoming arrival of Windows 8, Microsoft's next generation of software for computers and tablets. Because Windows 8 shares apps and an overall aesthetic with Windows Phone, the launch sometime this autumn is expected to cause a surge in popularity for Windows Phones.
Is Nokia onto a winner with Windows Phone? Has the Windows 8 update left Nokia high and dry? Wjhat do you think Nokia's Plan B should be? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
Android App 
RSS Feeds 
iPhone App 
Newsletters 
Comments 20
Add your comment
anonymous 29 June, 2012 17:59
I long said while @ Nokia they should have continued with MeeGo and combined it with WebOS as an alternative to Android, with the one option that it could download and rund Android Apps. I also suggested to have all Nokia devices be capable of running WP7 OS and or a Linux OS, belive me if they had done that on Lumina series and still had MeeGo then I think a lot of their customers would have simply reinstalled the Linux OS as a replacement.
anonymous 29 June, 2012 18:05
I was in a mobile phone store just yesterday & I was just looking at a Nokia Lumia, having owned one & thought it was ok, aIthough I was not convinced & switched back to android.
The thing is whilst just looking at the Lumia, one of the sales persons walked up to me and stated "don't bother with that one, it's windows" They then went on to say they are lucky to sell one windows to every thirty android handsets. I'm surprised they sell any with that sales attitude but if that is fact how can windows ever compete.
anonymous 29 June, 2012 18:09
meego with support for android apps
anonymous 29 June, 2012 18:20
One mistake here. Apps written for WP8 are able to run on WP7.5. That is, if app developpers choose their apps to run on both OS-es, and why wouldn't they?
taras 29 June, 2012 18:35
Surprised Nokia think they can't stand out from the Android crowd.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who reluctantly gave up on solid S60 phones and switched to inferior hardware in order to get Android.
Android running on Nokia hardware would be beautiful.
iam a wp7 29 June, 2012 18:54
Windows Phone is so amazingly smooth! I went from Android to WP and just recently back to Android and it is amazing how much nicer WP is to use!
I think people just need to give it a chance :/
damien2501 29 June, 2012 18:57
Android is the worst out of the three big phone os's by far. It's bloated, has an app market full of half working apps, it's not secure, all your resources are constantly drained unless ur a huge fan of killing apps running in the background every 2 mins.. Both windows and iOS are clean and easy to use.
anonymous 29 June, 2012 19:43
Nokia is onto a winner with WP8 - it could've won with Android but the prize is much greater with WP hence the focus. The whole Windows 8 thing will be so pervasive by2013 that Nokia will benefit massively - not to mention the ENTERPRISE opportunity - offering a stable, secure mobile companion to MSFTs IT solutions) and with cross-screen stuff linked to XBOX/Tablets/PCs it can carve our a whole consumer segment which Apple and Samsung just CAN'T COMPETE ON. The WP7 to WP8 transition is unfortunate in the way it's been positioned but probably not as significant as most commentators claim and is no worse than any product that goes through a basic upgrade path. Most users just don't care with software versions and hardware versions. I'm not a fan of any particular eco-system but I do get depressed at the overly negative / victim way that Nokia's getting written about these days - about 10% if fact - the rest is just crap that snowballs and helps no one...
moez 29 June, 2012 20:01
Back in September 2010 Nokia Executive Vice President Anssi Vanjoki compared to move towards Android to "peeing in your pants to stay warm in the cold of winter" :-P
will wait and see
anonymous 29 June, 2012 21:07
Good to see this but I predict that you will see nokia back in the game soon with a very huge impact
billfred 29 June, 2012 21:55
The apps for WP are SO weak though!
anonymous 29 June, 2012 22:53
Should play the game like other vendors. First start out with Android and then Windows :-):-):-):-). Now it seems to be too late to get back to the game :'( a disaster:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(
anonymous 29 June, 2012 23:03
Sorry for Nokia and users of nokia... "Microsoft revealed that current phones not only won't get the WP8 update, but new apps won't work on current phones either." // Big mistake!! users should give back the slap-in-the-face buying iPhone or Android phones..
anonymous 30 June, 2012 10:25
What hasn't yet been discussed is what (in car terms) the fuel economy will be at idle for WP8 Phones, i.e. how efficient can a WP8 Phone be, given the historical bloat of the NT Kernel. Yes, its being made modular to only include legacy modules it needs, but how efficient is that legacy code in comparison to iOS, Android. None of the NTFS Code has been rewritten, just re-packaged.
The cloud compiler that will magically convert WP7.5 into WP8 Apps is a completely unproven piece of new cuttng edge 'magical' tech, yet MS thinks this will work seemlessly and produce 100,000 new WP8 Apps that will be multi-threaded, and battery efficient across all cores, and resize themselves perfectly for different sized screens.
There is a lot of detail missing, in the meantime - Apple/Android continues to sell million of devices a month, before WP8 even hits the shelves. The is no knowing the position of Nokia by then. I think WP7.5 Sales will drop off a cliff in intervening months.
anonymous 30 June, 2012 13:33
Plan B is sell itself to ms as cheap as possible. You r coming home baby.
anonymous 1 July, 2012 16:57
So im here to comment because I went to the CNET facebook page which reads very badly for android indeed. Another non neutral artical. Poor jounalism and smacks of fan boy rant.
anonymous 1 July, 2012 21:46
nokia should stick with symbian telling people why symbian is the best and is the real mobile OS, resource friendly...
maybe should make symbian with high rezolutions, and quadcores...
also could in parallel could make meego, meltemi, wp and android phones too and see what is working...
meltemi in india...
wp and android in US...
symbian in europe...
IS THAT SIMPLE: give people what they want...
Armands Kupcis 3 July, 2012 21:02
Well, in this case i want Nokia to fail Windows Phone, but if would be OK if they would make both of them.
anonymous 4 July, 2012 06:36
plan B. meego or die. nothing else.
anonymous 15 July, 2012 11:56
Only Plan to survive is fire Elop.