Nokia tipped to announce Microsoft partnership on 11 Feb

Nokia is expected to announce a partnership with Microsoft during a strategy and financial briefing on 11 February, which would see the Finnish manufacturer roll out Windows Phone 7 devices in an attempt to remain competitive in the smartphone market.

Analysts are expecting Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop to outline a change in strategic direction but were cautious about its chances of turning round Nokia's fortunes.

Nick Jones, a vice president at analyst firm Gartner, suggested that a partnership with Microsoft is one of the options available to Nokia.

"A vendor's goal is not just to sell handsets, but to sell devices plus services. All the big players, such as Apple, Google and Nokia, want to have cloud services and applications supporting their devices," he told V3.co.uk.

"If Nokia went with Android it would be abandoning the service opportunities, such as advertising, to Google, so I don't think an Android deal would benefit Nokia that much."

Jones acknowledged that it is desirable for manufacturers to own their own platform and ecosystem, but also noted that it is unlikely that Nokia's untried MeeGo platform will be good enough to take on Apple and Android in the high-end market.

"Windows Phone 7 is in a much weaker position than Android, and Microsoft might be willing to negotiate some concessions, such as supporting Qt and Ovi apps on the Phone 7 platform, which might be a better deal for Nokia," he said.

Nick McQuire, EMEA research director for enterprise mobility at IDC, agreed that a deal between Microsoft and Nokia makes sense, but warned that it does not guarantee success for either party.