Nokia Killing Symbian and S40 In North America 148
In an interview with AllthingsD, the head of Nokia's US operations declared that Nokia will be focusing exclusively on Windows Phone devices in North America. Reasons cited include the low profit margins of the ubiquitous low-end Series 40 devices and lackluster sales of Symbian based devices. This also means that the N9 won't be making it to North America either.
It will be missed... (Score:3, Interesting)
I just bought a Nokia C3-00 unlocked and for what I want to do with a phone (phone calls and texting) it works perfectly, plus I get a good week+ of battery life. It isn't glitzy, the UI isn't the flashiest, but the hardware is solid, the keyboard feels good and it just works.
Far, far too many of the android and Apple products are going for glitz and glamour and eschewing the basics of what a phone should be. That is to say, a phone. In addition, they get crap battery life.
Might work (Score:4, Interesting)
They've failed from a marketing perspective in the North American market. Partnering with a large US corporation which seems to know a thing or two about marketing could work out for them. Though it would be more reassuring if they partnered with someone who didn't define 'partner' as 'someone you work with until you eat them'.
and what about N900? (Score:2, Interesting)
Does this mean they're dropping their smartbooks as well? N900 is worlds better than anything iOS/Android-laden: instead of a limited toy OS with a browser, media player and fart apps, it has a general purpose operating system in a smartphone-sized form -- effectively a very, very small laptop. Nokia failed to polish it so for ordinary users it doesn't have so much appeal, but for hardcore programmers and sysadmins it's godsent.
Well, there's one brand I'll never be buying again (Score:2, Interesting)
I've owned Nokia phones in the past, and have always considered them when it came time to buy a new one. But they just ensured that will never happen again. I can see maybe dabbling with Windows Phone and offering a few sets for variety... but when the news keeps showing that Windows Phone is DoA [eweek.com], I don't get why Nokia would bet everything on a sinking ship. Are they truly that suicidal?
Re:and what about N900? (Score:4, Interesting)
You don't need to pay extra for a proper keyboard on N900.
You have MANY VNC/RDP to choose from and ssh application for free on N900.
You can get N900 for $200 used.
Those two devices are worlds apart.
Re:It will be missed... (Score:4, Interesting)
Far, far too many of the android and Apple products are going for glitz and glamour and eschewing the basics of what a phone should be. That is to say, a phone. In addition, they get crap battery life.
Well, it kinda depends. For me, an android isn't a phone with crap battery life. It's an ultraportable computer with good battery life and telephony tossed in for free.
Telephony is almost useless to me, since all you can do with it is talk to people, and that's no fun. But computing on the go... oh yeah, that's where it's at.
But if you're in the place of "gotta have a phone, can't be cut off from the crowd", yeah, smartphones are neither smart nor phone.
BTW, in my case also, glitz is irrelevant. It's an HTC Desire, possibly the least glitzy android phone ever made with adequate capability. So, the glitz argument isn't universal either.
Re:Well, there's one brand I'll never be buying ag (Score:2, Interesting)
And Nokia still knows a thing or two about selling mobile phones.
Bullshit. Their phones are not selling, even here in Finland. Consumers no longer want anything to do with their products.