Nokia And Intel Partner For Symbian Phones
Microsoft isn’t the only part of the Wintel duo to have ambitions on the mobile market. Intel has again joined with MSFT in developing a reference design for a smartphone which makes it easier for handset vendors to produce a final product (using, of course, Intel chips and Microsoft Mobile OS). However, there’s no loyalty for Redmond in San Jose, and the affair isn’t exclusive, as Intel announced today that they will join with Nokia to develop smartphones and a reference design for smartphones using the Symbian OS. Recall that globally, the Symbian OS is the most popular smartphone platform, although less widely known in the USA. Symbian is owned by the top brands in handsets who view MSFT as a threat, and are reluctant to put a Windows Mobile OS on their handsets. They’ve seen the impact of an monopoly OS on hardware vendors in the PC space, and don’t intend to have the same margins as Gateway or Dell. The Intel pact with Nokia will be most roundly felt by the existing mobile chip powerhouses, TI, and STMicro, who are as threatened by Intel’s entry into their sector as the phone brands are by Microsoft.
