Nokia with Windows Phone 7 continues fragmented service offerings

Tomorrow we will hear about Stephen Elop's strategy for the future of Nokia and there is quite a bit of speculation that he might actually work with Microsoft to release Windows Phone 7 Nokia devices. As readers here know I am a fan of Windows Phone 7, but still find this move by Nokia (if this is the way things go) interesting because it addresses the US market while creating more fragmentation than if they were to adopt any other platform or move MeeGo forward.

Windows Phone 7 is a wonderful experience, if you live in the United States. Outside the US, the total experience is broken due to limitations of the Zune Marketplace as you can see in this Zune Marketplace availability matrix. Note that the US is the only country that is fully supported with the UK the next closest country in terms of feature support. Nokia already has services that are limited by geographic regions (Ovi Music for one) and even their device software updates are rolled out based on where you live. Adopting Windows Phone 7 continues one of the major sources of frustration that I have with Nokia and really only helps those in the US.

The thing about the United States is that Android, iOS, and BlackBerry rule the market here and Nokia is non-existent. Windows Phone 7 is new and fresh, but so far adoption seems to be rather low. I am not sure hardware from a company that people remember here as being solid, free, and basic improves either Nokia or Windows Phone 7 in the US. Of course, enthusiasts like me would buy one in a second since I think most of the Windows Phone 7 hardware is simply revamped existing devices and Nokia might finally bring a device with excellent optics to the mix. However, how many people are there like me that like Windows Phone 7 and Nokia?

Does Nokia really want to become another HTC or Samsung and be the maker of devices with multiple platforms? Hmm, maybe they do since both of these companies are doing extremely well in the mobile space right now. I am all for this strategy and sticking with an untested MeeGo seems more risky than going with Windows Phone 7 so why not, let's go for it Stephen.