Nokia Seeks Exclusive Networks For Windows Phone 8 Smartphones

Nokia is looking for exclusive network partners for its  next smartphone running Windows Phone 8 according to a new report.

The Financial Times says that the Finnish manufacturer is actively seeking partner operators in Europe, in an effort to replicate the excitement that Apple generated by releasing the original iPhone on a limited number of networks in 2007.

Such an opportunity could interest European operators who are growing increasingly frustrated at the dominance of smartphones running rival operating systems.

Connecting People Exclusively

Many operators are keen to establish Windows Phone as a third major operating system as manufacturers of iOS and Android smartphones are able to control the profit made from the sales of their handsets. Nokia is prepared to offer a share in the profits of its smartphone, something which it hopes will encourage any potential partner to use all its resources to sell the device.

Nokia has apparently opened negotiations with France Telecom, although no agreement has been reached. France Telecom joint-owns Everything Everywhere with Deutsche Telekom in the UK, which could mean Orange and T-Mobile customers would be able to own the smartphone first.

Any partnership would mark a significant change in strategy for Nokia, which has traditionally relied on selling as many handsets to as many people as possible. However it did recently enter into a partnership with AT&T in the US.

Troubled Nokia will hope that the support of a partner network would assist it in its efforts to successfully challenge Android and iOS smartphones, something which it has struggled to do so far with its Lumia range, despite selling four million units worldwide.

It has halved the price of its flagship Lumia 900 smartphone in the US, less than three months after it was launched there. Nokia told TechWeekEurope that this was a “normal strategy” for this moment in the product’s lifecycle, but some have speculated that it is because current generation Windows Phones won’t support Windows Phone 8.

Nokia suffered a minor blow when it was revealed that no major UK operator will carry the Nokia PureView 808, its Symbian smartphone which boasts a 41 megapixel camera.

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