Nokia to sell only Windows Phones in US
Nokia will stop selling all its S40 feature-phones and Symbian smartphones in the US later this year when the company's first Windows Phone devices come out, the president of Nokia's US subsidiary has said.
Chris Weber said in an interview with AllThingsD on Tuesday that Nokia's US focus will be entirely on Windows Phone. The company will also stop selling directly to consumers in that market, instead relying entirely on sales through operators.
"When we launch Windows Phones we will essentially be out of the Symbian business, the S40 business, etc," Weber is quoted as saying. "It will be Windows Phone and the accessories around that. The reality is if we are not successful with Windows Phone, it doesn't matter what we do (elsewhere)."
Nokia's big tie-in with Microsoft was announced in February. Apart from setting Nokia up as a new manufacturer of Windows Phones, it also meant a two-year wind-down for Symbian, Nokia's erstwhile flagship OS. However, sales during that two-year period will now clearly not take place in the US.
Both Weber and Nokia chief Stephen Elop are ex-Microsoft employees.
The US has always been a troublesome country for Nokia, as Symbian has never gained significant market share there. According to Weber, the first Nokia Windows Phones are very much designed for the US market.
Nokia's S40 phones, which do not run a smartphone OS, are also casualties of Weber's strategy for the US. Nokia is planning to release cheap Windows Phones as well as pricier ones, so that could fill the gap once Nokia starts delivering in bulk next year, but cheap Android phones have already become a major contributor to the success of Google's mobile OS.
Nokia also has no plans to launch the MeeGo-based N9 in the US. The company has also not said whether that device — the result of a short-term relationship between Nokia and Intel — will come to the UK or any other country where a major Nokia Windows Phone push is planned.
The N9 is being made available in a couple of dozen countries, including Australia, Greece, China and Russia.