To suggest Nokia's position in regards to Symbian has been up and down since it announced its support for Windows Phone 7 is putting it lightly.

Critics have suggested it's evidence of internal divisions within the company: the idea being that scores of employees are unhappy with the Finnish firm's strategic alliance with Microsoft.

More credible, however, is the view that Nokia is simply uncomfortable distancing itself from the platform it help built up, given it will continue to generate most of the company's revenue until 2012 at the earliest.

Sticking by Symbian?

News that CEO Stephen Elop has pledged support for Symbian until 2016 is yet further evidence of the company's fragmented position.

While such a soundbite suggests Nokia has gone back on its decision to scale down Symbian hardware releases in the near future, it is in fact a simple promise that updates to the OS will continue to be pushed out.

"We're in a period where the investment in Symbian absolutely continues," Elop told Nokia Conversations.

"Even as we go through a transition towards our primary smartphone platform, Windows Phone, you will see that continued investment.

"And I know there's been questions about — so how long does that continue — and we've now been very clear about that, that software updates to Symbian devices are expected until at least 2016. So there's a long history still to be paved for Symbian in the future."

Elop confirmed that customer support and Nokia's apps on Symbian will also remain in service over the next five years.



[source: ZDNet]