Nokia held a gala earlier this week announcing its new flagship phone, the Nokia Lumia 1020, hitting the scene with possibly the best camera on the market. But despite the party atmosphere, there will inevitably be a question asked with some bitterness: what about Symbian?
The Finnish company gave the operating system one last chance with the 808 Pureview, which until now had been the only handset to reach 41 megapixels (on the sensor). After seeing how Google and Apple took over the market with Android and iOS, however, Nokia decided to say its final goodbye to Symbian, an operating system that for many could still legitimately compete in the market.
Reasons for dropping Symbian
A deep-rooted problem: Some of those involved in the development of Symbian agree that its greatest asset was also its greatest weakness. Christopher Reiss, who worked on the development of the platform, says on Quora that developers’ primary concern was to create something efficient and fast, and then lay the graphical interface as best they could. This way of working contrasts with that of other companies. With iOS 7, Apple handed the reins to designer Jony Ive first, then put programmers to work; Symbian, on the other hand, is efficient but unattractive to the majority of the public.
Nobody committed 100%: Although we automatically associate Symbian with Nokia, the truth is that it used to be a joint project between Nokia, Ericsson, Sony Ericsson, Matsushita and Samsung. For the majority of these companies, it was only a plan B. Even Nokia, which later acquired 100% of the company, still experimented with other operating systems before and after Symbian, including Maemo and MeeGo.
Fierce Competition: Other companies were simply faster and stronger. Andrei Rubaniuk, who worked to develop Symbian between 2006 and 2008, says that the current stable, solid Symbian came “18 months late” when compared with the iPhone. By then, there were many who had already put bets on the success of the handset and Apple operating system. The arrival of Android was the final nail in Symbian’s coffin.
What about Windows Phone?
Just as Symbian was associated with Nokia, despite other companies being involved, the Finnish company is now a leading supporter of Windows Phone. The difference is that Microsoft is now leading the way. Nokia, however, is offering exclusive apps for Lumia, as well as quality multi-platform apps like Nokia Here Maps. You could say, arguably, that Nokia puts its signature on the best Windows Phone to date. The question still on everyone’s minds, however, is what would have happened if Nokia had worked as hard to revive Symbian?
