NokiaSoft on track
Nokia announced that it has signed a final agreement with Microsoft, much ahead of schedule. Stephen Elop, Nokia CEO, also announced significant progress on the development of the first Nokia products incorporating Windows Phone.
Confirming that the announcement is consistent with the pact signed on February this year, Elop also noted that "at the highest level, we have entered into a win-win partnership." Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, also assured that "together, Nokia and Microsoft will innovate with greater speed, and provide enhanced opportunities for consumers and our partners to share in the success of our ecosystem."
While Nokia will deliver navigation and all location-based services to Windows Phone, Microsoft will provide its Bing search services across the Nokia device portfolio.
In order to aid creation of global and local applications and increase its outreach, Microsoft will make Windows Phone developer registration absolutely free for all Nokia developers. Nokia said developers will now be able to publish and distribute applications through a single developer portal to all Windows Phone, Symbian and Series 40 devices.
According to the agreement, Microsoft will obtain a running royalty from Nokia for the Windows Phone platform. Nokia will also receive payments measured in the billions of dollars. Nokia hopes the deal will help significantly reduce operating expenses.
The agreement which runs over hundreds of pages details the financial commitments of both the companies and elaborates their responsibilities in technological developments.
This bit of good news for Nokia comes at a good time. While Nokia's quarterlies were a bit above expectations, they still didn't look great when juxtaposed with Apple's. Nokia's net sales were up only nine percent year-on-year, but down 18 percent sequentially. We've seen reports that Apple has now overtaken Nokia as the leading mobile phone company by revenues.
"Following a solid first quarter, we expect a more challenging second quarter," said CEO Stephen Elop. "However, we are encouraged by our roadmap of mobile phones and Symbian smartphones, which we will ship through the balance of the year. We are fully focused on delivering the needed accountability, speed and results to positively drive our future financial performance."
