If Nokia had a dollar for every time some pundit, analyst or tech blogger said it should switch from Windows Phone to Android, the company’s recovery would be much further along than it is right now. That didn’t stop Bernstein Research analyst Pierre Ferragu from recommending yet again in a recent note to clients that Nokia bail on Microsoft’s mobile platform and embrace the dominant Android operating system.
Nokia should “take the pill before one cannot afford to do so anymore” and switch to Android before it’s too late, Ferregu wrote in a research note picked up by Barron’s. Continuing to rely on Windows Phone and Nokia’s “Asha” feature phone platform while cash dwindles is an exercise in futility, according to the analyst.
“Nokia should consider it’s [sic] near term future,” Ferregu wrote. “The company is facing two structural challenges: its exposure to the disappearing feature phone market and the lack of traction of Windows phones. Both could cost Nokia a lot of cash in the near term, in restructuring, marketing / distribution support, and operational losses, which means it could be too late to address the problem in a couple of years. From that perspective, a decision concerning a new platform strategy appears urgent. Better to take the pill before one cannot afford to do so anymore. We wouldn’t be surprised to see Nokia adopting Android as its new low-end platform by year end.”
