Many observers are scratching their heads after the announcement that Nokia is buyingTrolltech for $150 million. After all, Nokia has a majority stake in Symbian, a hugely popular smartphone operating system (OS) developer. Symbian OS powers Nokia’s smartest phones. To justify the buyout, Nokia saysthat this will“enable Nokia to accelerate its cross-platform software strategy for mobile devices and desktop applications, and develop its Internet services business.”
And accelerate, it might. There’s no question that a multi-platform company like TrollTech can help ease what is the most annoying thing to mobile developers: the fragmentation of hardware and software in the mobile space. This would allow developers to focus their efforts on user experience, rather than compatibility.
Nokia understands that software is where the value is, and depending of how the company manages the effort, it could prove to be an edge against more hardware-centric companies, like Samsung who recently climbed to the second spot. It’s not a guaranteed success, but it’s asound strategic move.
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