Nokia courted RIM before jumping into bed with Microsoft, report claims

By on Feb 15, 2011 at 4:37 PM
mobile February 15, 2011

According to an unconfirmed report from TechCrunch Europe, Nokia explored a possible partnership with BlackBerry maker Research In Motion before announcing its decision to adopt Windows Phone 7. It had been widely reported that Nokia was deciding between Google’s Android platform and Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 OS when considering its future, but RIM’s BlackBerry platform was apparently also in the running to become Nokia’s potential savior. Citing “well-placed sources,” the blog claims that RIM wasn’t interested in a partnership and so the decision came down to two options. The report goes on to suggest that Google’s refusal to let Nokia make certain changes to the Android platform also played a big role in the Finnish giant’s final decision. Nokia, for example, wanted to replace Google Maps with Ovi Maps and change the way Android handles various PIM data, and Google said no. Nokia could have foregone Google’s blessing and done whatever it wanted with the open source platform, of course, but then it would just end up back where it started. In the end, Microsoft and its Windows Phone 7 operating system won — possibly by default — and the rest is history… or “future,” as it were.

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  • Anonymous

    I dunno, if it’s true that they actually looked at RIM as a potential savior, then Nokia’s management is more clueless than everyone thought!

    • QNX Please

      Yes the most secure OS in the world, used by almost everyone in the corporate world, even governments banning it because they can’t spy on their people… yea Nokia is clueless.

      • Anonymous

        RIM uses a ‘closed’ eco-system, the OS is tied to their hardware, and everything is tied to their servers.

      • Anonymous

        too bad their software is tied to perpetually outdated hardware.

      • Anonymous

        all the while people are running from it.. The idea is to sell the most phones, not the most phones QNX Please or Celz likes…

  • http://twitter.com/homescrub homescrub

    RIM. You’re an IDIOT!

  • Anonymous

    There’s little to no way that RIM and their cruddy BB platform would have been looked at by ANYONE

    • Anonymous

      It’s not like they still hold the largest share of enterprise users or anything. But carry on with your child-like comments.

      • Anonymous

        Didn’t say they don’t have the greatest share of enterprise…. Nokia have the greatest share of all smartphones and that doesn’t change the fact that there are SERIOUS issues with Symbian^1 for example that haven’t a look unlikely to be rectified.

        Were I a CEO of any company, there’s little to no benefit involved in going from Symbian to RIM. Symbian is definitely good enough for most on enterprise anyway lol

  • bugmonster

    “In the end, Microsoft and its Windows Phone 7 operating system won…”

    using the term “won” loosely, huh?

    • sirpaul

      no………how is having their OS on the millions of phones Nokia will be putting out not a win? Or are you just bashing Microsoft because it’s the cool thing to do?

      • Rhill345

        You are assuming that people actually buy these “millions” of handsets. So far that remains to be seen and definantly remains to be seen.

  • Anonymous

    These guys just exude charisma don’t they? Look like a couple of troll extras from a Tolkien film.

  • Helvetica

    Google said no? What happened to Android being open?

    • Anonymous

      Lots of companies make “open” Android handsets.. You just don’t get market access and I think maybe google apps.. Nokia needs the market, some cheap chinese tablet doesn’t need it

  • Anonymous

    It’s a no brainier after all RIM is going to gain immensely on Nokia’s demise or until Nokia/WP7 handsets see a day. RIM unlike Msft has everything including software (next gen OS already in the works), hardware expertise, channel partners, mind share among consumers and enterprises, emerging market penetration and what would it gain by partnering with Nokia?

    • Brad

      Yeah, at face value, this rumor doesn’t make much sense. What would RIM possibly gain from the arrangement? Perhaps Nokia approached RIM with a desire to license QNX for its own devices. However, a software licensing agreement doesn’t necessarily equal a strategic partnership. I can’t really picture any other arrangements that would provide near-equal benefit.

  • Anonymous

    I guess Blackberry didn’t offer a good enough RIM job? Guess that’s why Steve Ballmers head shines so much in all those photos; must be all that friction??

  • http://twitter.com/ChazClout ChazClout

    I think Nokia and Elop were screwing around with the competition and had no intention of going with anyone but Microsoft.

    I don’t believe that Nokia would have had any problems deploying their phones with custom Nokia Maps or their own content/services with Android due to its open source nature. Nokia could have taken the Android source and used it as they wished, just ad Samsung, Motorola, HTC and others have done. Sounds fishy to me.

    • Anonymous

      No market access = no sales… plain and simple.

      Google have their owns maps so Ovi maps gets dumped…

      Google have their own ad platform and noone will be getting any of those dollars unlike the situation with msoft

      Most integrated services come via google.. unlike the situation with microsoft…
      I think the better decision was made by Elop et al

      • http://twitter.com/ChazClout ChazClout

        Mods, why is it everytime I post a link to a source article my post goes into moderation and is never approved?

        This may double post but here it is without the evil source URL:

        HTC signed an agreement with TomTom to include their mapping services with their Android phones so I doubt Nokia were ever told they couldn’t include Ovi Maps.

        Secondly, millennial media which are not affiliated with Google regularly post advertising share stats with ever increasing Android ad impressions so I doubt Google restricts non Google advertisers form the platform.

        What makes you think Android is so closed?

      • Anonymous

        I think they wanted to replace google maps. HTC adding TomTom doesnt remove GM from the phone. Google has this thing where if you want marketplace access, you have to have all the rest of the google apps and services installed on it. That and they would constantly be stuck a version behind as OEMs who did sign with google for market access would get the latest roms first. Thats the thing about the ‘open’ nature of android. Sure it could be completely open, but no OEM is dumb enough to cut themselves off at the knees to make it so.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Nelson-Ocampo/584931665 Nelson Ocampo

      With MS, Nokia gets their services actually integrated as part of the WP ecosystem. With that, the success of WP becomes intimately tied to Nokia services.

      It’s a relationship where both companies are depending on each other, and helping each other.

      If Nokia went with Google, they don’t have that.

  • Anonymous

    Why would they think RIM would partner in anyway with them, RIM likes to handle their own software and hardware.

  • http://twitter.com/martinkem Martins Irechukwu

    In Related News, Elephants can fly and also lay eggs

  • Anonymous

    BB OS on a Nokia? Eeeew RIM is a dead platform, just let it die slowly in peace and lets move on

    • Todd

      It’ll be pretty hard to call RIM dead, when it comes back to kick the naysayers in the teeth.

  • LookLively

    I haven’t looked at a Nokia phone seriously since 1997.

  • http://twitter.com/gnomehole The Gnome

    So you are saying they went after the two biggest losers in mobile? Hmmm….

    • Chut Pata

      BB is not a loser, they are exclusive like Apple, not open like Google. Why did they approach BB? Did they also approach Apple? lol Morons.

  • http://twitter.com/ex_post_facto Ex Post Facto

    If EFlop is this stupid, they should fire him immediately.

  • Anonymous

    This would have been an even bigger marriage of failures than the one that transpired, and that’s saying a lot!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=122613122 Gyubok Baik

    what a bunch of whiners.

  • Chut Pata

    RIM is like Apple, they do not share their hardware or software. It was mighty stupid of Nokia if they contacted either of them. They should have contacted Google, but first they decided “not to pee in their pants” and then jumped to Multiple-Sclerosis.

  • max

    RIM job is going the way of the beanie baby.

  • http://caspan.com Caspan

    So RIM was looked at then Android then Microsoft…. bhbahbhahbhahahahah how does it feel to be picked third Microsoft and only cause there is nothing left to chose from? And to everyone else they are talking about QNX OS not BlackBerry OS6. To everyone else making fun of it or had your eyes closed for the last 3 months even the last 3 days your about to get your socks blown off!

    Your talking about a platform that no matter what language you program in it will work on it! So why program for a platform that only supports 1 or maybe 2 languages? What’s funny is you make fun of it because it’s about to dominate! Never have I heard from one of you Apple Trolls or Android Trolls any concrete facts only opinion why one is better then the other.

    sucks when you have nothing but FailBook or RIMs going out of business because you have noting on RIM other then you don’t like it!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1242990231 SoonKyu Park

    That makes no sense. Why would they partner up with someone who already makes their own hardware?

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