Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) is looking to tip toe in the tablet market, as it finds a way to broaden its device portfolio, Nokia’s chief executive, Stephen Elop, said yesterday in an interview with the Australian Financial Review.
“We haven’t announced tablets at this point, but it is something we are clearly looking at very closely. We are studying very closely the market right now as Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has introduced the Surface tablet, so we are trying to learn from that and understand what the right way to participate would be and at what point in time.”
When asked about the possible OS of the new tablets, the CEO affirmed that Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) would prefer Windows over Android. Elop was, however, careful not to rule out alternatives such as Android.
“We would consider any option [Android or Windows],” the newspaper quoted Elop saying, although he went on to describe “the Microsoft side” as Nokia’s “first focus”.
No official decision has, however, been given on the OS selection, said a PR executive.
“It is important to note that the opportunity for companionship is something that any user is looking for,” Elop said. “So, when you think about the Lumia 920, running on Windows phone, having a Windows tablet or PC or Xbox is something that will give us the opportunity to have a pretty integrated experience. Our first focus on what we look at is clearly in the Microsoft side.”
Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V), yesterday, announced that the company would sell a third Windows 8 smarphone Lumia 620 in Australia from the middle of this month.
Explaining the company’s decision to step into tablet market, Elop said Nokia’s strategy in the smartphone market was to “make sure we have differentiation.”
Assuming that there is an Android-powered tablet in the pipeline from Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V), chances are that the Android-powered smartphones would not be too far off in the horizon.
