Nokia's Stephen Elop says iPhone made Android

Nokia chief Stephen Elop during a speech at the Open Mobile Summit said iPhone had effectively been responsible for making Android. He argued that Apple had "created Android" or, at a minimum, had "created the conditions necessary to create Android." Companies decided they couldn't play along with Apple and had to do something else, leading to Android becoming the de facto standard.

Apple had also at leased raised alarms with carriers, but Google's hardware partners were afraid because of the revenue opportunity. Nokia wanted to be as friendly as possible.

He didn't necessarily think Android was inherently better. If Apple had a closed box, Google's box "still has flaps" and could be harmful. He suggested that Google was disingenuous on Android's openness and that some areas were closed. "If you counted the number of lines in Android code you might get a different perspective on how open it really is," he said.

Elop once again said Windows Phone had been chosen over Android because of the lack off differentiation, and when they did often resulted in a fragmented platform. Low WP7 sales were attributed to phone manufacturers giving WP7 short shrift. They put their "best work" into Android. Nokia was hoping to do the same with Windows Phone and could give it better treatment, Elop thought.

Android was formally started by a small team led by Andy Rubin years before the iPhone, but it wasn't 2007 that the first public view the platform emerged after Google had bought it out two years ago. At the time, it was more like a BlackBerry-style operating system and made the switch to its current touchscreen-heavy focus in 2008 after companies like HTC and Motorola wanted to seize on the popularity of the iPhone.

By Electronista Staff