Nokia CEO Doesn't Deny Possibility of Microsoft Surface Smartphone Discussion

[Grant Hatchimonji]

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop did not deny the latest round of rumors that Microsoft may be developing its own Windows Phone, instead taking the opportunity to express confidence in Nokia's edge over the competition.

Read the full content of this Article: Nokia CEO Doesn't Deny Possibility of Microsoft Surface Smartphone

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[Mitlov]

A guy who is not part of Microsoft "neither denied nor confirmed" that Microsoft might have an unreleased product in the works? I'm shocked.

In other news, I'm not a citizen or agent of either Mongolia or North Korea, and I neither deny nor confirm that Mongolia and North Korea are building giant gladiator robots to jointly take over Manchuria. Headline? Mitlov does not deny that Mongolia and North Korea are building giant gladiator robots.

[Ed Hardy]

A guy who is not part of Microsoft "neither denied nor confirmed" that Microsoft might have an unreleased product in the works? I'm shocked.

He's the CEO of the premier maker of Windows Phones and a former top-level Microsoft employee. There's no way Microsoft wouldn't warn him. Think of it this way: He didn't plead ignorance, which he easily could have done. Instead, he deliberately gave a vague non-answer.

For your analogy to be, well, analogous, you would have to be be Premier of China. I assure you, the Premier of China knows whether Mongolia and North Korea are building giant gladiator robots.

[Ed Hardy]

As a reminder of what Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said on this issue over the summer:

When asked if Microsoft might make its own smartphone, Ballmer paused and then replied: “Right now we are working real hard on the Surface. That’s the focus. That’s our core. Look, we’ll see what happens. We have good partners with Nokia, HTC in the phone space. I love what we've got going on with the Surface. We are going to focus on Surface and our other Windows 8 Tablet partners and see if we can go make something happen.”

To summarize Ballmer: I neither confirm nor deny the reports that we're working on a smartphone. "We'll see what happens."

My guess is that Microsoft is seriously considering it, and is working on designs, but has yet to make a final decision. It really wants Windows Phone to succeed, and will release its own hardware if that's what it takes. But it would much rather Nokia and HTC make the OS successful, in which case a Microsoft-branded phone would be unnecessary.