Nokia and the Opportunities of the Microsoft Partnership - Essay Example

Also known as Metro, the Windows mobile OS has been hailed as revolutionary and innovative. It is radically different from the dominant mobile OS in the market such as Apple's iOS and Google' Android. As a matter of fact, Metro has been said to be built from the ground up, becoming entirely different from previous Windows mobile operating systems. Its most prominent feature is the so-called Live Tiles user interface, which veered away from the conventional icon-dominated platforms. As opposed to icons, the OS used blocks or tiles, which is a cross between an icon and a widget.

It is arrayed like a checkerboard and works in such a way that when a tile is clicked, expands to reveal more information. Windows 8 is the latest iteration of the OS. It depicts the direction that Microsoft is taking in the evolution of its Windows mobile platform. Its reception should also indicate the trajectory of its market performance in the future. Microsoft built its operating system exclusively for touch screen smartphones and this is reflected in Windows 8. There is also an emphasis on how users can seamlessly sync information between a Windows phone and personal computers.

This implies, for users how the phone becomes an extension of their computers and should be a tremendous opportunity when further played out. By integrating the phone with the PC experience, it could become an integral part of personal computing, linking the market performances of the mobile phone and PC hardware. Nokia can benefit from using Windows OS because Microsoft is still a major player in the technology industry. It is still the largest maker of OS for the PC and this establishes the company's capacity to develop its mobile platform further.

It has the resources to do this. As mentioned earlier, the evolution of the Windows phone can be inextricably linked to the performance of personal computing. Recent developments show how Microsoft began integrating the mobile and PC operating systems. Windows 8 for mobile is no longer an independent platform. It became a version of the PC OS. This area underpins another important opportunity. Because of the closer integration of the PC and smartphone platforms, the Windows mobile OS is in a better position to establish itself as the phone for business, effectively taking away the consumers of Research in Motion’s Blackberry phones.

The enterprise market will find the mobile platform more attractive resulting in a possible exodus of Blackberry users. Furthermore, Microsoft does have an array of products and services that can, in the future, constitute an ecosystem that could rival that of Apple's. It may even surpass it because a Windows phone may become an alternative PC, with all its applications and capabilities. Then, it has the Xbox, important software such as Microsoft Office and the company is aggressively building its applications store, which is an important purchase decision for smartphone users today Nokia will suffer by using the Windows mobile OS because the platform was late in the game.

Today, Windows mobile powered phones constitute less than 5 percent of the smartphone market. Android and iOS have significantly built their customer base and it is difficult to have consumers shift to another platform, much less learn the entirely new user interface. So the work is cut out for companies like Nokia to put in an extra effort not just to market but educate users about the benefits of using their Windows-powered products. There are also very limited applications available for the Windows mobile platform.

This is an offshoot of the platform’s late entry. Developers had less time and less motivation to built software for the platform. There is a greater incentive working for iOS and Android devices that is why Nokia had to initiate more strategies to address this dilemma as well. Microsoft is also known for being strict with the hardware specifications of the phones that would run its mobile OS. For example, Microsoft did not permit multiple cores for its devices, which is frustrating for many users.

There are numerous other related risks and they underscore how Nokia may be hampered in terms of its own innovations in its partnership with Microsoft.