Whispers that primary Home windows Phone OEM Nokia continues to be two-timing Microsoft by continuing to keep an Android phone project on its backburner happen to be doing the models for some time now (also known as the rumoured Nokia Normandy device). But yesterday the Wall Street Journal expected more fuel about this fire, stating people acquainted with the problem verifying that Nokia will unveil an Android powered device in the Mobile World Congress tradeshow in Barcelona later this month.
Presently there is lots of WTF here. Most famously because Nokia is going to give its mobile making division to Home windows Phone maker Microsoft in return for a considerable pile of money (€5.44 billion/$7.2 billion). Kind Microsoft, which features its own mobile platform, sanction its potential mobile making division to build an Android-powered device?

At first glance, it may sound like madness. And yet, as others have formerly thought, there’s potentially approach to this madness -being as windows Phone has unsuccessful to challenge Android’s achieve in the lower finish from the smartphone market.
The underside-of-the-range $180 Lumia 520 (pictured towards the top of this publish), which was announced at this past year’s MWC conference and has sold relatively well for any Home windows Phone, is still a ways more pricey compared to least costly Droids (sub-$50 Android mobile phone models can be found in emerging marketplaces).

Ergo, switching to Android for budget products could be one of the ways for Microsoft to slice itself a bigger part of a really large (and growing) slice of the smartphone cake.

When the best traction for Home windows Phone continues to be in the lower finish cost-point, then pushing that lower still might be a winning combination even when the resulting phones will not technically be windows Phones. Yet they’ll look and taste like windows Phones, distributing the flavors of Microsoft’s mobile OS beyond it is so far had the ability to go.
The Android powered Nokia device the WSJ’s sources discuss will come pre-loaded with Microsoft (and Nokia) services, together with a Nokia Android application store, instead of Google software and Google’s Play store effectively which makes it a Trojan viruses equine pressed within the Android fortress to on-ramp very first time smartphone customers.
Or perhaps a plucky landing around the shores of occupied territory, for a moment.

The unit would also not resemble vanilla Android when it comes to its UI, but prefer to be considered a fork of Android just like Amazon . com has forked Android because of its Amazon Kindle Fire pills and also to further its very own finishes, not Google’s with Nokiasoft apparently dressing the interface to really make it seem like Home windows Phone.
Doing that will mean your budget Android could acclimatize very first time smartphone customers to some windows Phone world, i.e. hoping they’ll upgrade to some full-body fat Home windows Phone Lumia smartphone within the fullness of your time.
Based on the WSJ, Nokia engineers happen to be developing the Android device before saying yes to market its mobile making division to Microsoft last fall. But thus far it has not been obvious whether Nokia planned to maneuver ahead using the project or otherwise.

The newspaper’s sources read the phone is going to be revealed later this month so most probably the work continues to be okayed by Microsoft’s new Boss Satya Nadella.

Nokia is holding a press conference at MWC, where TC is going to be available to pay for this news. (Although, Nokia’s understated invite with this event is not offering any Android-flavoured hints:)

It is not obvious if the Normandy Android landing is really a stop-gap strategy while Microsoft retools Home windows Phone for affordable prices mobile phones. However the WSJ states Microsoft is going to be refocusing WordPress attention on flagship mobile phones, to higher compete in the greater finish. (Yeah, have fun with that)

At its earning call recently, Nokia the only real substantial Home windows Phone OEM (controlling 90% from the market according to AdDuplex) revealed it offered as many as just $ 30 million Lumia products throughout within the whole of 2013.
Compare that to Android’s huge sprawl: Google announced 900M active Android activations in May this past year. And cumulative active Android activations will probably break the billion mark this season because the platform is constantly on the expand to new device types to fuel further growth.

With comparative amounts like individuals it is easy to determine Microsoft’s logic in signing off a Home windows Phone-flavored Android-powered low finish smartphone Trojan viruses equine.

Windows Phone certainly requires a better growth strategy. Some might express it requires a growth strategy period. And, ironically, piggybacking on Android might be the easiest method to make that happen elusive momentum.

During the time of writing Nokia hadn’t taken care of immediately a request comment.