Newkia: a Nokia on Android

Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia's handset business has certainly ensured that the media has a ton to talk about for a long time to come. Unpleasant as the current turn of events may be for some, when one door closes, another opens, as the saying goes. Thomas Zilliacus, now former Asia-Pacific CEO of Nokia appears to have taken the above to heart, and is planning big for his newly-founded company dubbed Newkia.

The cheesy name aside, Zilliacus is promising to push (and, hopefully, deliver) on an idea that smartphone fans and watchers alike have been contemplating for a long while now – the solid hardware of Nokia, married to the unmatched success of Android. Of course, the smartphone industry has proved to be a highly contested area, and unfortunately for nascent Newkia and the like, it's mostly the really giant companies that turn a profit. Naturally, therefore, before we even entertain the admittedly compelling idea, one has to ask how on earth will the ex-Nokian make a headway in an industry largely unwelcoming of newcomers. Simple, really – apart from already having a team of senior former Nokian executives on board, the Fin has also unanimously stated that he'll be poaching talent from Nokia, among others. Moreover, Zilliacus claims that the chosen team of execs is mainly comprised of those people he considers were not given enough voice and were sidelined by those, whom he deems culpable of the current predicament the Finnish manufacturer finds itself in:


Asked about whether he sees Windows Phone, in particular, as the cause of Nokia's ongoing demise, we're glad to see that the boss of the new company isn't as short-sighted. According to him, Nokia's problems started way before Elop and his team took the reins over at Nokia: