Speculations regarding Nokia selling off its mobile handset division
have been doing the rounds for the last couple of years. Nokia on its
part has always denied these rumours as it marched on to launch its
much-awaited Windows-based smartphones.
However, this has not helped
in putting an end to all the speculations. Tristan Louis writes in
Forbes
that Nokia is likely to exit from mobile handset business in 2013.
Tristan Louis is the founder of Keepskor, a multi-channel platform for
user generated games, and a respected voice in the industry. In his note
he also adds that it is likely that either Huawei or Microsoft could be
the potential buyers for Nokia's handset business.
The
biggest shocker (and what I suspect will be my most controversial
prediction), though, will be the the departure of Nokia from the phone
business as the company sells its mobile operation and infrastructure
divisions to Huawei in order to focus on software and services. With the
company's bet on Windows 8 having failed in the marketplace, it will
see Microsoft and Huawei competing for the mobile device division and
will eventually sell its smartphone group to Microsoft and the rest of
its telecom interests to Huawei.
Louis
also makes some not-so-controversial predictions that Amazon, Microsoft
and Google will all launch their smartphones, with 2013 finally
becoming the year when Google leverages its relationship with Motorola
to come up with the 'real' Google phone.
In 2012, Nokia has tried
to make a strong comeback in the smartphone race. It managed to take the
world by surprise at the Mobile World Congress 2012, where it unveiled
its 41-megapixel monster Nokia PureView 808. To maintain its stronghold
in the emerging markets Nokia also launched series of affordable
smartphones under its Asha range such as Nokia Asha 305, Nokia Asha 311
et al.
The Finnish handset maker is currently betting on its new
flagship Nokia Lumia 920. Nokia Lumia 920 has a 4.5-inch IPS TFT
capacitive touchscreen and runs on Windows 8 operating system. This
smartphone has been doing quite well in the United States of America
partially due to the aggressive pricing strategy adopted by Nokia, and
is in short supply wherever it has been released. However, it seems that
according to Louis all these efforts may perhaps not be enough to help
Nokia stay afloat for long.