Nokia CEO: we're in no hurry to join the tablet market

[Emil]

Nokia is in no rush to release a tablet. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop was asked by YLE TV in Finland when his company would release a device in the hyped form factor, and here's what he said:

There are now over 200 different tablets on the marketplace, only one of them is doing really well. And, my challenge to the team is I don't wanna be the 201st tablet on the market that you can't tell from all of the others. We have to take a uniquely Nokia prospective and so the teams are working very hard on something that would be differentiating relative to everything else that's going on in the market.

Q. "So you're not in a hurry?"
A: "We're always in a hurry to do the right things, but we're mostly in a hurry to do the right thing."

MeeGo was created last year by the merger of Nokia and Intel's Linux-based platforms. Although Nokia dropped MeeGo and Symbian for Windows Phone earlier this year, that strategy only applied to smartphones, not tablets. At the time, the company said it was planning on shipping at least one MeeGo-related product later this year, and we've always expected it to be a tablet.

Nokia said that MeeGo was to become an open-source mobile operating system project with increased emphasis on longer-term market exploration of next-generation devices, platforms, and user experiences. Earlier this year, pictures of a Nokia MeeGo tablet prototype leaked out. It's not clear at this point if the project was unsuccessful, if the prototype was scrapped, or if Nokia simply decided that it was not ready to enter the tablet market.

Given the Finnish company's new partnership with Microsoft, it's possible that Nokia has decided to wait for Windows 8, which is yet another big blow to MeeGo. Windows 8 is expected at the end of 2012 at the earliest, which would mean that if Nokia chooses this path, it will be entering the tablet market quite late. On the one hand, we think that Nokia needs to focus on pushing out its first Windows phones but on the other hand we're not sure if it should be following Microsoft's "wait and see" strategy so closely.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/43535-nokia-ceo-were-in-no-hurry-to-join-the-tablet-market.html

 

[Guest]

Smart man.

 

[Guest]

Smart? More like more of the same. This is Nokia we are talking about right? The only thing they are good at is LEAVING markets to their competitors. Maybe they are embracing a new marketing strategy: We are 3rd rate, because we don't try at all.

 

[gwailo247]

I'm thinking that companies are going to start pushing out tablets that are going to be able to run the Windows 8 beta. If MS follows the Windows 7 strategy, they're going to have millions of people testing their new OS on every piece of hardware possible, and sharing their findings with MS and on forums.

As long as there is a way to backup or do a clear restore of the Android OS that will come on those tablets, I could see a lot of people, at least techies, doing a clean install of the Windows 8 beta on their tablets and using it as the primary OS in conjunction with their desktop and phone. (At least that's my plan if it all works out)

 

[Chazz]

So the CEO says we are in a hurry to put out a competent product...but it's interpreted as "we are not in a hurry". It's as if you want another fail tablet.

 

[Guest]

I'm not in favour of jumping onto band wagons just because all others are doing the
same, but standing still and doing nothing does not seem a better strategy either.

 

[Burty117]

I bet they are waiting for windows 8, since they are now using Microsoft for software on phones it's only logical.

 

[Leeky]

I bet they are waiting for windows 8, since they are now using Microsoft for software on phones it's only logical.

I'm thinking the same thing.

Nokia have a history of wasting millions on development (several different arms of OS everyone - at the same time!) and a track record of not delivering at the forefront of the market in a way competitors have in recent years.

I personally think they'd be stupid to even consider this years or next's round of tablets, they're far too far behind in development already.

Lets face it, if you don't already have massive plans to build tablets, you're going to be near the bottom of the pile and its going to be a flop!

 

[Jibberish18]

Guest said:
I'm not in favour of jumping onto band wagons just because all others are doing the
same, but standing still and doing nothing does not seem a better strategy either.

Exactly what I was thinking. The sad thing is, Nokia comes up with some VERY innovative things that never see the light of day.

 

[Guest]

The original Elop's interview can be seen here:
http://areena.yle.fi/video/1303932100425

And here’s a link to summary in English:
http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2011/04/elop_finnish_rampd_remains_heart_and_soul_of_nokia_2546663.html