Premature Death of Nokia X : Microsoft Kills Nokia X Series in Just 5 Months

“Going the Android route is like Finnish boy that pees in his pants to stay warm throughout the winter.” These were the words of Anssi Vanjoki, then Nokia executive back in 2010. This statement made it clear that the Finnish maker is not going Android way and it made decision to take the Windows Phone way.

Soon it was clear that Nokia has taken a wrong route by sticking to Windows instead of Android. As the time passed, Nokia’s business took a bad shape and finally Microsoft bought Nokia’s phone business for $7.2 billion in 2013. After releasing Windows Phone OS packed Nokia smartphones, it looked like Nokia will pee its pants and release an Android phone!

And just about five months ago, Nokia finally released “low-cost” series of Android phones – Nokia X. Nokia X series was runnin forked version of Google’s Android OS that was made to look like Windows Phone OS. There was a time when Nokia lovers wanted Android on their Nokias but when it was finally released, the Nokia X series was not very well received.

Now Microsoft has decided to kill Nokia X series and cut 18,000 jobs (out of which, 12,500 are from Nokia division) over the next year. Stephen Elop, chief of Microsoft devices, announced in an email to employees, that the Nokia X Android project is over. Future Nokia X designs and products will be shifted to Windows Phone devices. He also notes that the company will make the shift immediately while continuing to sell and support existing Nokia X products.

We operate in a competitive industry that moves rapidly, and change is necessary. As difficult as some of our changes are today, this direction deliberately aligns our work with the cross company efforts that Satya has described in his recent emails. Collectively, the clarity, focus and alignment across the company, and the opportunity to deliver the results of that work into the hands of people, will allow us to increase our success in the future.

This comes as a sad news for Nokia lovers who were still hoping Nokia to do the magic. Dumping Symbian OS, ignoring Android and going the Windows Phone OS, being sold to Microsoft, then releasing Android phones, which sees death in just five months. This is the timeline of Nokia in recent years. Now it would be interesting to see what Microsoft does with once considered “pioneer” of the cellphone world – Nokia.