Google leaves the Android door open for Nokia

Google CEO Eric Schmidt has said that “extensive confidential negotiations with Nokia” were held prior to the Finnish handset giant opting for Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 mobile platform. Speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Schmidt told delegates “We would have loved if they'd chosen Android but they chose the other guys, that other competitor, Microsoft.”

February 16, 2011

1 Min Read
Google leaves the Android door open for Nokia
Android users can charge direct to their O2 bill

Google CEO Eric Schmidt has said that “extensive confidential negotiations with Nokia” were held prior to the Finnish handset giant opting for Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 mobile platform. Speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Schmidt told delegates “We would have loved if they’d chosen Android but they chose the other guys, that other competitor, Microsoft.”

While shares in Nokia took a 20 per cent dive following its announcement of the Microsoft deal, Schmidt said that the Android door would always be open: “We think Android was a good choice for Nokia and we’re sorry they made a different choice. We’d like them to adopt Android at some point in the future and that offer remains open.”

According to Schmidt, Android is now used by 27 handset manufacturers around the world, with 300,000 activations every day.

During the course of his keynote address to the congress, Schmidt identified Microsoft as Google’s main competitor, stating that its search offering, Bing, “is good on some things, maybe a little too good in some cases,” while playing down any threat to Google ad revenues from Facebook.

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