Nokia looks set to change its strategy this week

But what will change?

THERES NO SECRET that Nokia hasn’t been doing as well over the past couple of years as it has in the past and according to research by IDC the company has gone from 38.6 percent market share in Q4 2009 to a mere 28 percent in Q4 2010, that’s a 10.6 percent decline. At the same time Android has grown to become one of the most popular smartphone platforms alongside Apple’s iOS while Nokia’s Symbian platform has dwindled in popularity.

In what is claimed to be a letter from Nokia’s recently appointed CEO Stephen Elop that leaked to Engadget, it sounds like the company is getting ready to make some huge changes to the way it operates and it seems like Elop is even considering dropping Symbian in favour for other third party platforms such as Android or even Windows Phone 7. Nokia’s partnership with Intel on MeeGo seems to be going slow as well as the email mentions that Nokia might only have a single MeeGo device in the market by the end of 2011 unless something changes.

It’s both fascinating and scary at the same time to see what was once the world’s undisputed leader in mobile phones crumble as few other words can describe what Nokia is going through. Not only are Apple and Google’s Android partners eating away at Nokia on the high-end and mid-range, but the company is also losing market share at the entry level to various Chinese handset makers as they offer feature rich devices that are far more impressive for the same money as Nokia’s entry level handsets.

However, it seems like Elop has realized this and the company is set to announce a new strategy on the 11th of February which is Nokia’s Capital Market Day. Exactly what will be announced is as yet unknown, but the speculations are rife. It’s also worth noting that the Mobile World Congress kicks off next week in Barcelona and we might get to see further announcements there. There’s no doubt that Nokia is a company that’s in deep trouble, but if the right decisions are made the company could quite easily pull itself out of  it current situation within a matter of months. Nokia has a strong engineering team and knows how to design good looking handsets with features that consumers and business users alike wants and it’s really the Symbian platform that’s holding the company back.S|A

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