HELSINKI — Nokia will try again to tackle Apple ’s iPhone in the top-end of the handset market with a bet on Linux software, several industry sources say.
Top handset maker Nokia would show its first high-end phone running on Maemo, a version of Linux, next week at the annual Nokia World event in Stuttgart, Germany, they said.
But analysts said it was unlikely to become clear before next year whether this would help Nokia achieve its aims.
The Finnish group has dabbled with Linux since 2005, using it in “internet tablets” — sleek phone-like devices used to access the web that have failed to gain mass-market appeal in part due to their lack of a radio.
“It looks like Maemo, or at least a Linux derivative of some kind, will play a key role for Nokia in the high-end over the next year or two,” said Neil Mawston from Strategy Analytics.
Nokia’s workhorse Symbian operating system (OS) controls half of the smartphone market — more than its rivals Apple, Research in Motion and Google in total. But analysts said Linux- based products could have important advantages.
“Maemo is far more flexible than Symbian, so it’s a better option for advanced devices using various display technologies and rapidly evolving user- interface software,” said Tero Kuittinen of MKM Partners.
High-end products are important for Nokia as it has not only lost market share in this segment but its average selling prices have declined faster than the industry average.
Goldman Sachs expects Nokia’s value share ( reflecting average prices and underlying market share) for phones costing more than 350 to drop to 13% from 33% two years ago.
Linux is the most popular type of free or open source operating system. It competes directly with Microsoft , which charges for its Windows software and opposes freely sharing its code. Linux suppliers earn money selling improvements and technical services.
Nokia has already talked about Linux-based systems. “Maemo is taking the desktop Linux environment and making it mobile,” Kai Oistamo, head of Nokia’s key phone unit, has said . “We have proven it really can be made, you can take desktop Linux and make it work on mobile.”