Nokia claims number 1 Windows Phone OEM throne

It is a mere formality, but it was not that long ago that HTC claimed they remained committed to Windows Phone, especially as they were the largest Windows Phone OEM.

It took less than 6 months for that to change, and speaking to Gulf News Tom Farrell, vice-president of Nokia Middle East, assumed the largest Windows Phone OEM mantle very comfortably.

“Our strategy is working. When we formed an alliance last year with Microsoft our intention was to regain lost share. After one year, it is still working. We are the number one Windows phone in volume in the world. Our momentum is accelerating.”

He explained their strategy of attracting price-sensitive customers and told Gulf News “We plan to introduce and bring to markets new and more affordable products with more modern user experiences with Windows Phone in 2012. We will launch Lumia series when Arabic support is ready.”

Kantar recently revealed Nokia was responsible for 87% of Windows Phone 7 sales in UK in the 3 months ending February 19th, and with the lack of marketing by other OEMs and products like the HTC Titan and Samsung Focus S being removed from the shelves, it is increasingly becoming a Nokia only game.

The news does of course raise the question of why Microsoft should not just buy or merge with Nokia (worth around $19.6 billion) , which would remove the distraction of the Symbian business and whether Nokia will change direction in the future to possible adopting Android also, a choice that will always be available to them as an independent OEM.

What do our readers think? Does it still make sense not to buy Nokia, when they have close to 90% of the Windows Phone market? Let us know below.

Via Zawya.com