NEW
YORK: The Nokia X phones that Microsoft discontinued this week blend
two rival operating systems, but leave out the best of each.
As a result, the devices didn't become a runaway hit as Nokia's low-cost answer to serving emerging markets.
Nokia X phones were devised to be a gateway to the company's pricier
Lumia phones. The operating system that runs the phones was to blend the
core technology found in Google's Android system with services and
designs found in Microsoft's own Windows Phone system. Nokia looked to
Android as a way to sell phones with locally tailored apps unavailable
on Windows.
But Microsoft completed its deal to buy Nokia's phone business in April, and Nokia X is gone less than three months later.
"Nokia tried to bring the best of both worlds on this device, but once
you play around with it, this phone kind of falls short of how fantastic
it could be," said Ramon Llamas, an IDC analyst who follows phones.
Although sales figures aren't available, Llamas said his research
showed Nokia X was "not the one that everybody seems to be flocking to."
The Nokia X project is an example of clashing priorities that Microsoft
CEO Satya Nadella is trying to curb with a refocusing effort that
includes 18,000 job eliminations over the next year. In Thursday's
announcement of the cuts, Microsoft said it will shift future Nokia X
product designs to its Lumia line of Windows devices.
Although
Microsoft Devices chief and former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop pinned the
move on a need to align Nokia's strategy with Microsoft's, two other
factors contributed to the downfall: Nokia X lacked an identity, while
Windows got better.
Now, Microsoft is left to target emerging markets with Windows alone.
Nokia and Microsoft had been partners long before Microsoft bought the
phone business. To maintain the relationship, Nokia sought to appease
Microsoft by replacing many of the Google services on Android with
Microsoft's services. Android staples such as Gmail, Google Maps and
Google's app store are nowhere to be found. Instead, Nokia X phones have
Here Maps from Nokia and Skype and OneDrive from Microsoft. The Nokia X
home screen looks nothing like Android, but resembles Windows.
The thinking was that once Nokia X users were ready for higher-end
phones, Lumia would be their choice because they are already accustomed
to Microsoft's services and designs.
But Nokia adapted Android
so much that it affected functionality. Software developers had to tweak
some of their apps because Nokia X lacks key Google services. For
instance, location services have to use Nokia's Here rather than Google
Maps. In-app payments also had to be tweaked to allow billing through
mobile carriers, something Nokia X enabled because many people in
emerging markets lack credit cards.
Meanwhile, even as Nokia adopted the look of Windows, it didn't adopt
its ease of use. It was more like a knockoff version of Windows.
Windows devices set themselves apart by offering colourful home-screen
tiles stuffed with content. Instead of just a logo of Facebook, for
instance, you get the first several words of notifications. For email,
you get the email's sender and the start of the subject line, so users
know whether there's anything worth opening the app for. Windows also
lets you create tiles to serve as shortcuts to specific tasks within
apps - such as places you go often using the mapping app.
Nokia X has none of that. Its home-screen tiles are static, like overblown versions of Android icons.
Now, Llamas said, Microsoft is under even more pressure to succeed with
Windows in emerging markets. Although recent improvements help, he
said, many phone makers by now have settled on Android for cheaper
devices.
Nokia X did succeed at keeping prices low. Its four
models range from $120 to $150. By contrast, Nokia's Lumia Icon costs
$550 without subsidies that come with two-year service contracts.
Apple's iPhone 5S and Samsung's Galaxy S5 cost even more.
In
killing Nokia X, Microsoft isn't changing Nokia's commitment to serving
emerging markets. Microsoft knows those regions are high-growth areas,
as many people in the United States and other industrialized markets
already have smartphones. Microsoft is also aware that those devices
need to be affordable.
The day before Nokia announced its
Android phones at a February wireless show in Barcelona, Spain,
Microsoft unveiled plans to update its Windows Phone system. Among other
things, the software runs more efficiently, so it doesn't require as
much processing power. That update, Windows Phone 8.1, came out in May.
Microsoft also began giving the Windows software to phone makers for
free, the way Google has with Android. And it relaxed requirements for
physical buttons. All that has made Windows phones cheaper to make.
The Nokia X phones do have some good touches, including slots for two
sim cards — something important for emerging markets, where phone rates
vary so much that people often switch services depending on whom they
are calling or texting. Windows didn't allow that until the May update.
The improvements made to Windows ultimately reduced the need for Nokia
X. But even if that hadn't happened, it was doubtful Nokia X would have
survived under new owners.
In his memo, Elop pointed out that "the role of phones within Microsoft is different than it was within Nokia."
Nokia's business had been to make phones. With Microsoft, the phones
are a way to showcase the company's other offerings in services and
software, including the Windows Phone system.
And Nokia X had no role in that.
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