Again Normandy leaks? The strange Microsoft-Nokia’s bet (Update Asha 501 with Bing)

Dual SIM Nokia device from @evleaks

Some hours ago @evleaks tweets a picture of a dual SIM Nokia device.

UPDATE: @shadez replies to @evleaks on Twitter and highlights that the device is a well known Asha 501 with Bing. Good finding by him. The considerations about Normandy anyway are still valid and we’ll see if something of absolutely new will be announces in Barcelona @MWC.

As already said in the blog the strage things are:
1. Is a full Nokia device or something by Microsoft, as very probably because of the contract between Microsoft and Nokia?
2. Assuming it is Microsoft, even if under Nokia brand (and this is possible under the term of Microsoft Nokia for some years), why Microsoft is interested in an Android device, that in some way is a sort of enemy in own home? I analysed this here.

What is sure, is the huge number of leaks in the last time about this device that if confirmed will be probably the founder of a new Asha category.
Really if we see the contract it seems that the possibility to use the Nokia brand is in a certain way limited:

“Microsoft has agreed to a 10 year license arrangement with Nokia to use the Nokia brand on current Mobile Phones products. Nokia will continue to own and maintain the Nokia brand.  Under the terms of the transaction, Microsoft has agreed to a 10 year license arrangement with Nokia to use the Nokia brand on current and subsequently developed products based on the Series 30 and Series 40 operating systems.  Upon the closing of the transaction, Nokia would be restricted from licensing the Nokia brand for use in connection with mobile device sales for 30 months and from using the Nokia brand on Nokia’s own mobile devices until December 31, 2015”

So Microsoft could be the inspirer of such device if:

1. the product is part of current Mobile Phones products, and assuming that is not a Lumia -dedicated to Windows Phone- it will be an Asha in order to be a “current Mobile Phone product”
2. Such product is not Android but a product based on Series30 or Series40 OS, but I think to exclude this case
3. a very Nokia product, but it is very difficult to think about it because of is too early (restriction until December 31, 2015).

So. until new information, we can expect to see an Asha Android device in Barcelona at the end of this month.

Nokia’s troubles seem not ended yet after 2013 Q4 results

Nokia’s 2013 Q4 result shows that the situation is not good as expected, and in fact Nokia shares decline of more than 9% vs.  Dow Jones Industrial decline of about 1.2% (12:30PM EST).

In detail Phone division now is stated as “Discontinued operations “ (how the World changes…) after the acquisition by Microsoft shows a decline of 29% YoY respect to 2012. This is for sure one of the reason of shares slow down but it will be soon a Microsoft business rather than Nokia’s one.

NSN (Nokia Solution System) shows a decline of 22% in net sales in Q4 2013 respect Q42012 but a -18% in net sales in YoY 2013-2012 for the full year but it also shows an interesting +39% in Operating profit (non-IFRS) in YoY 2013-2012 full year result.

The situation is no good neither in HERE division nor in the new division “Advanced Technologies” –that are roughly the IPRs- but I would wait a bit more to understand how they could evolve in future. Anyway the +20% QoQ respect Q3 2013 for HERE seems encouraging because net sales was primarily due to higher sales to vehicle customers, partially offset by lower sales to personal navigation device (PND) customers consistent with declines in the PND industry, and the increment in automotive, after the highlighted interest shown by Nokia in this field I see as a good start.

What is important, apart the obvious financial figures, in such report is that is the first Quarter in which Mobile are no more considered as the Core of the business and NSN is at the moment the focus of the Company. About the -22% in net sales Nokia highlights that “The year-on-year decrease of 22% in NSN net sales in the fourth quarter 2013 was partially due to divestments of businesses not consistent with its strategic focus, as well as the exiting of certain customer contracts and countries. Excluding these two factors, NSN net sales in the fourth quarter 2013 declined by approximately 15% primarily due to reduced wireless infrastructure deployment activity”, anyway the result is not so brilliant.

My two cents is that, because of the dismissal of Mobile Phones and Smartphone confirmed and approved in the Nokia’s Extraordinary General Meeting held on November 19, 2013, today market feedback seems too severe because some interesting aspects could be found in NSN and HERE. As I said above.

Regarding Mobile phones and Smartphones we’ll see in future, and this from Microsoft point of view. In these days, the strange story of Nokia Normandy continues. In the last hours it was possible see in Postel site a certification in Indonesia for a Nokia RM-980 that could be such forked Android Normandy based on KitKat 4.4.1 . If the Android  approach will be confirmed Microsoft would make a severe change in low end market.

Nokia-RM-980 as in Postel Certification

In the meantime Nokia team has sent invitation for the next MWC 2014 for February 24th with rumors of Lumia high end devices 1520V, 1525 and 1820 and the question is if such Normandy will see the light under Spaniard sky.

Barcelona Mobile World Congress invitation sent by Nokia Team

Again on Nokia Normandy and rumors about Microsoft Money NOT for NOTHING.

An update regarding yesterday post.
@evleaks again on Normandy twitting new possible UI screenshots with a description saying “Two ways to interact with Normandy”; such sentence seems related to the fact that Normandy UI has one interaction mode similar to the one that you can experience with Lumia and the other similar to the one you can have with Asha Fastlane.

Possible Nokia Normandy UI from @evleaks

What for sure is strange, remembering that such Nokia Normandy will be anyway a Microsoft product, is the twitter from the Mobile-Review.com editor-in-chief Analyst Eldar Murtazin typically well informed especially on Samsung and Nokia stuff that claims the possibility of money “support” from MS to relevant manufacturers, i.e.:

Samsung         1.2 Bln USD
Sony                0.5 Bln USD
Huawei            0.6 Bln USD
others              0.3 Bln USD

Eldar Murtazin’s tweets

If such rumors are correct, it could mean that MS will play on two tables at least, in one betting on an Android device with MS store, and in the other betting on WP high-end phones made not only by Nokia (… opss… Microsoft) but also by Samsung, Sony,…

Whatever you see the above story, what is real is that the future market will be dominated by Mobile, as highlighted by Gartner.