Nokia Experimented With Android Phones Prior To Microsoft Acquisition

We’re sure many were boggled by the fact that Nokia threw all their eggs into the Windows Phone basket a couple of years ago. After all there was no evidence that the platform was a successful one (at that time), and with iOS being pretty much closed to everyone else, the “obvious” choice would have been Android, right? Well despite Nokia’s statement on that matter, it turns out that Nokia was experimenting on creating an Android device prior to Microsoft acquiring them. This is according to a report by The New York Times that claims that Nokia engineers did develop a couple of Lumia phones running on Android.

This was apparently done “well before” Microsoft announced the deal, suggesting that perhaps Nokia’s Android attempts started back in 2012 or maybe even in early 2013. It also seemed like Microsoft knew about Nokia’s experiments but were apparently not phased by it and that it wasn’t part of the discussion when they wanted to acquire the Finnish company. This isn’t surprising because companies test out new products and ideas all the time, but what do you guys think? If Microsoft had not made their move, would Nokia have released Android smartphones for real?

Tyler Lee
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Android, Microsoft, Nokia