NEW YORK (AP) – The Nokia X phones that Microsoft discontinued this week blend two rival operating systems, but leave out the best of each.
As a result, the devices didn’t become a runaway hit as Nokia’s low-cost answer to serving emerging markets.
Nokia X phones were devised to be a gateway to the company’s pricier Lumia phones. The operating system that runs the phones was to blend the core technology found in Google’s Android system with services and designs found in Microsoft’s own Windows Phone system. Nokia looked to Android as a way to sell phones with locally tailored apps unavailable on Windows.
But Microsoft completed its deal to buy Nokia’s phone business in April, and Nokia X is gone less than three months later.
“Nokia tried to bring the best of both worlds on this device, but once you play around with it, this phone kind of falls short of how fantastic it could be,” said Ramon Llamas, an IDC analyst who follows phones.