According to a recent report by the FT, Nokia will kill off Symbian this summer. Of course, this has yet to be confirmed by Nokia, who have not given a date for when they will retire Symbian.
Nokia sold around 500,000 Symbian-powered smartphones in the first quarter of 2013, although Nokia’s Windows Phone 8 devices are now selling more per quarter than the Symbian handsets.
According to a Nokia spokesperson, using Windows Phone 8 as their main platform has been a good move for the company. You can see the statement below.
“It took 22 months to get a Symbian phone out of the door. With Windows Phone, it is less than a year. We spend less time having to tinker with deep-lying code and more time on crafting elements of the experience that make a big difference, such as around photography, maps, music, and apps in general.”
The Rise and Fall of Symbian
Symbian was once the dominant mobile operating system, especially in the early 2000s. It was widely used by various manufacturers, including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Samsung. Symbian’s open-source nature allowed for a high degree of customization, which was a significant advantage at the time. However, as the smartphone market evolved, Symbian struggled to keep up with the rapid advancements in technology and user expectations.
One of the critical issues with Symbian was its complexity. Developing applications for Symbian was notoriously difficult, which deterred many developers. This complexity also extended to the user experience, which was often criticized for being unintuitive and cumbersome. As a result, when iOS and Android entered the market with their more user-friendly interfaces and robust app ecosystems, Symbian quickly lost ground.
Nokia’s Transition to Windows Phone
Nokia’s decision to transition to Windows Phone was a strategic move aimed at revitalizing its smartphone business. The partnership with Microsoft allowed Nokia to leverage the strengths of the Windows Phone platform, including its integration with other Microsoft services and its more modern, user-friendly interface. This transition was not without its challenges, but it ultimately allowed Nokia to remain competitive in a rapidly changing market.
The shift to Windows Phone also enabled Nokia to focus on areas where it had traditionally excelled, such as photography and mapping services. The Lumia series, which ran on Windows Phone, was particularly well-received for its camera technology, thanks to innovations like PureView and Carl Zeiss optics. Additionally, Nokia’s HERE Maps provided a robust alternative to Google Maps, further enhancing the appeal of its Windows Phone devices.
Despite these advantages, the transition was not enough to restore Nokia to its former glory. The smartphone market had become fiercely competitive, and even with the improvements brought by Windows Phone, Nokia struggled to regain its market share. Eventually, in 2014, Microsoft acquired Nokia’s mobile phone business, marking the end of an era for the Finnish company.
As yet, Nokia has yet to confirm when the last Symbian smartphone will ship. As soon as we get some more information, we will let you guys know.
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