There’s a bunch of other announcements coming out of Nokia World 2011 in London today, and I’ll touch on those later. However, this blurb from my friend Eric Zeman at PhoneScoop really got under my skin:
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop today said at the Nokia World event in London that the company will be making a significant announcement regarding its plans for the North American market at some point in early 2012. Elop said that Nokia is working with North American network operators to create Windows Phone devices that include LTE 4G and CDMA 3G. He wasn’t specific on further details about the carrier partners in particular.
So…..you’re saying that a Nokia executive has stated publicly that they have ‘big plans’ for the North American market, and they can’t share those plans now, but we should stay tuned? I’ve never, in over 10 years of being a Nokia fanboy in the U.S., heard that from a Nokia executive. Not ever.
*in case you couldn’t tell, I’m being unbelievably sarcastic here. I’ve been keeping up with Nokia since before they successfully lost the U.S. market, anxiously awaiting their big comeback in this market. I heard the above statement from OPK at least three times, and we can all see where that ended up. I’ve heard the backstory of Nokia’s relationship with the U.S. carriers from countless Nokians who were in the room for such discussions, and I’ve seen their attempts to get handsets such as the N80, N95, N75, and on and on. I also recall the completely failed CDMA attempts a few years back. I’ve seen Nokia move their North American HQ to White Plains, NY, and OPK promised to spend several months a year there. It’s going to take some serious execution to get Nokia’s Windows Phones on a U.S. carrier.
Frustratingly, I can’t help but be excited about this, but hesitantly so. I’ve been disappointed so many times before.
Ricky Cadden 