Nokia to stick with Symbian - for the time being

By Pamela Weaver

Despite its February announcement of a partnership deal with Microsoft, Nokia has reiterated its commitment to the Symbian platform.

Many interpreted Nokia’s decision to adopt the Windows 7 mobile platform as the end of the road for Symbian; the once dominant platform has been struggling to keep up with Android in the market-share stakes and recently slipped behind it for the first time.

But Reuters has reported that, in an open letter to developers, head of developer relations Purnima Kochikar said that: “We will be selling [Symbian] devices long after Windows Phone devices from Nokia have already started to appear.” Kochikar is said to have followed up with the statement that “Over the past few weeks we have been evaluating our Symbian roadmap and now feel confident we will have a strong portfolio of new products during our transition period – i.e. 2011 and 2012.” According to Reuters, the letter also includes statements that forthcoming Symbian devices will offer improved performance such as faster processing and graphics speeds.

Last week, Ovum research forecast that Symbian phones will continue to be available in some markets until 2016. Principal analyst Adam Leach said that, while Nokia expects to ship some 150 million Symbian-based handsets beyond 2012, the partnership between the Finnish giant and Microsoft “has redrawn the smartphone market and will result in a significant reduction in shipments of Symbain-based handsets has Nokia transitions to Windows as its primary smartphone platform.”