[DavidBishop]

Honestly, it was a brilliant move by both Microsoft and Nokia. Microsoft dropped to 3% of the global market share for smartphones and Nokia's 2/3 market share dominance was nearly cut in half http://blog.cedowin.com/2011/01/mobile-future-taking-market-.... Additionally, Android overtook the #1 sales spot in Q4 globally, (depending on who you get your numbers from).

Nokia could have gone with Android, but why? There are already Android phones. Why be another number? The key to success is not to do what everyone else is doing but to do something different and find your niche. Microsoft touts itself as the "business" solution. This partnership of high quality hardware and business-minded software will set Nokia/Microsoft apart.

[nextparadigms]

Would you say the same thing to a PC manufacturer after Windows 95 came out? Like it or not, Android is already the "Windows" of the phone industry. Going with another OS, that ust happens to have the Windows name on it, but with a much smaller market and momentum, is a catastrophic mistake.

What if this is going to be true a few years from now and Nokia fails with WP7 because the Android ecosystem assimilates everything. Will they still be able to go to Android? They'll be destroyed by then, and it will be way too late too switch. At least by going Android now, they would have a fighting chance, and would just need to become a competitive company again, which they haven't been for a while, even in hardware. Yes, the N8 looked pretty good, and the camera was nice, but that's about it.

[axod]

2 failing companies teaming up doesn't equal success in my book.

Nokia could have started making great hardware again like they used to. They could have put Android on it, and done what HTC does. Unfortunately they haven't made a good phone in a long while.