Nokia Normandy pops up on Weibo, should Microsoft embrace it?

Another picture of the Nokia Normandy, an Android powered Nokia smartphone, has popped up in China on the Weibo network.

The handset is meant to position itself between ASHA and Nokia’s low-end Lumia handsets – not as a straight open smartphone platform, but as a smarter phone with access to a limited collection of apps controlled by Nokia.

Many believe the handset will never see the light, given Microsoft’s impending purchase of Nokia’s handset division, but others believe the handset is already in production and will soon come to market, possibly before Microsoft gains control of Nokia’s phone division.

Forbes contributor Ewan Spence believes Microsoft should embrace the initiative, and continue to sell and support this Android device despite it running a Google OS.

He notes that the phone will still be able to act as a gateway to Microsoft’s cloud services such as Outlook.com, Skype, SkyDrive and Office, and an Android handset may be the best route to the massive volume Microsoft needs to compete against Google and its services.

Android might also better be able to address the lowest end of the market, which would otherwise need to be abandoned to Google.

He notes:

There is a certain level irony that Microsoft would be using Android to disrupt Android, but business is business. The time to make this move is rapidly approaching. Microsoft can carry on their steady course in the smartphone world, but designing a new ship and sending a second mobile fleet out to raid the low-end market of the Android seas would be a fantastic adventure for 2014.

Do our readers agree with Ewan or would a Microsoft Android handset be an admission of failure? Let us know below.

Thanks hengxiang32401 for the tip.