Nokia Joins Microsoft :Employees in Finland Protest.

Nokia and Microsoft have announced plans to establish a broad strategic alliance that could exploit the strengths and expertise of both parties to create a new global mobile ecosystem according to Nokia’s new CEO Stephen Elop. He said Nokia would use the Windows software platform in its phones as part of the renovation that is taking place in the company.

However, more than a thousand employees of Nokia have gone to the streets to protest against the recent agreement signed between the manufacturer and Microsoft, establishing an alliance of titanic proportions in the telecommunications industry. The protests originated at Nokia’s main offices in the Finnish city of Tampere; where 1,500 workers developing the operating system Symbian stopped working. This behavior is clearly due to possible personnel changes where Nokia could start hiring windows phone engineers and off course those developing the old system (Symbian) would have to go.

These agreements represent a breakthrough for Microsoft after years struggling to establish itself in the mobile phone market. The Windows Phone is holding just 2% market for the first month of the year. This is an alliance born of fear on both sides to be marginalized by Black Berry, Apple, and Google, but it is not a silver bullet. I just think Black Berry, Apple, and Google will keep on being very successful in the following years to come due to the great marketing strategies they use specially with the digital natives which will be the future buyers of such technologies.

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/111645/20110211/nokia-workers-walk-off-the-job-to-protest-microsoft-deal.htm