back to article Nokia snubs UK with N9

It might well be the best phone the beleaguered company launches in 2011 - but Nokia won't be bringing its shiny new N9 to the UK. "There are no plans to offer the Nokia N9 at present," the company confirmed to a blog today. Two years ago Nokia anointed its Linux platform MeeGo (originally called Maemo, before a destablising …

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  1. James 51
    FAIL

    the man is an idiot

    The best phone they have made for years and they aren't going to sell it in the markets which can support expensive data hungry smart phones the best? Forget phones, Elop has Nokia making vapoueware.

    1. Paul 77
      FAIL

      Such a shame

      Well, I guess they won't sell many that way. But I suppose it means that there will be the odd one turning up on eBay, and that is probably where I will look to get one - if I do. Oh well, still have the N800 and N900 to play with :-)

  2. SteveBalmer
    FAIL

    Fixed it for ya.

    Microsoft tells Nokia they can't sell the N9 to anywhere that might be stupid enough to buy a Windows Phone 7, as the N9 will make the WinMo7 phones look even crappier than they already are...

    I would love to see the memo that drove this idiotic decision.

    Everything Nokia does these days is epic failure. R.I.P.

  3. ZapB
    WTF?

    Blithering idiots

    Bah! The N950 developer version of the N9 is *really* nice to code for. Obviously Nokia management do not want customers. Soon I fear their dreams will come true.

  4. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

    Time tp play the 'Last Post' for Nokia

    Or perhaps that little song from the Goon Show...

    So Long and thanks for ll the Fish.

    etc etc.

    This must the final 'E' in the MS Extend... Extinguish modus operandi.

    Where's the RIP symbol when you need it.

  5. Mage Silver badge
    Linux

    No, not an Idiot.

    For the new strategy, the worst that could happen is that a mass market buys the N9.

    I'd guess they are only selling it at all because the plan was in place before the scrapage and contracts signed to make some initial quantity.

  6. Stone-eye

    RE : the man is an idiot

    Perhaps he's trying to get Nokia so low MS can properly buy them for cheap?

    Im still hoping the N8 is around when I can upgrade and get a copy of symbian anna on it.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Way to spin a story.

    Nokia hasn't "pulled out of the USA" they have just said they only intend to sell Windows Phones into that market once it launches. That a significant difference from the story the author is trying to spin for us,

  8. Wize

    They are trying to piss off what little support they have left in the UK.

    They might think that people will buy this now and not get a new W7 version when they are release but forget we mostly contracts in the UK for smart phones. You pick the best of the bunch at the time your old contract runs out unless you are made of money.

    If people don't buy this one now, they will buy android/apple and will do so again the next time their contract runs out.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      spot on

      Having been a Nokia shop since we started we moved to Android this time round. MS have caused us enough grief with their PC software for us to consider winphone for more than 10 seconds. Don't like the Apple lockdown approach, so then it just became a matter of choosing a manufacturer who sold Android handsets. Doubt we'd move off Android now, and can't for the next 2 years. So unlikely we'll ever be looking at Nokia in the future.

  9. Neil Cooper

    Elop is clueless

    Elop's commitment to Windows is alone enough to tell you how clueless he is.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Devil

    DNR

    It has also come to light that CEO Elop has recently signed a living will on behalf of Nokia, giving instructions that no attempt should be made to resuscitate the company in the (tragic and untimely) event of cardiac arrest.

    The former MS executive continues to administer regular doses of cyanide to his fragile and confused patient in the hope that his miracle 'cure' will soon take effect.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Doesn't affect me

    I don't buy Nokia phones anymore. Android and iOS both work perfectly well though so no MeGo for me. I might by a WinMob phone at some point because I find MS's direction intriguing.

  12. StrictlySocial
    Windows

    Sensible branding excercise

    I'm sorry but whether the *nix brigade like it or not, this is a sensible marketing/branding decision. Yes, the phone may be good but Nokia have aligned themselves with MS and therefore it doesn't want to blur the line on what software their phones will be offering.

    Btw, for the WinPho haters, it is probably worth you having a play with it, you'll be surprised, you might actually like it!

    1. IanPotter

      @StrictlySocial

      Shan't. Might have got an N9m not interested in WinPho and since decent feature phones are now like rocking horse poo it like like 'droid for me. SE Neo looks nice...

  13. Rich_Enduro

    Nokia snubs UK with N9

    the glimmering hope that my next phone would be the n9 have now vanished and my only option is unfortunately android. no matter how good the W7 phone is, i won't be supporting Microsoft and its closed ecosystem. once i'm got used to android, i wonder how many years it will be before i switch to anything else?

    1. Andus McCoatover
      Windows

      Hit the nail on the head.

      "..got used to Android.."

      That's what Elop seriously missed when he shut the door in Symbian^3. You are comfortable with what you're familiar with. If you bought an Android thingy because a W7 isn't available yet, what's your next phone gonna be?

      Oh yeah. I bitched sometime earlier about no apps. on websites (e.g.BBC, Guardian, etc) for any phones other than iPhone and Android. None for Symbian.

      Seen any for W7?. Right. Tata, Nokia.

  14. James 51
    FAIL

    He's still an idiot

    If anyone wants WP7 then they'd already have a HTC or whoever else has released one. There isn't a vast untapped market just waiting for Nokia to release a WP handset. Elop is taking Nokia from being the biggest phone company in the world to being a niche player in a niche market.

  15. AB

    The rot continues

    It doesn't matter whether you're an MS apologist or a full-on Darth-Ballmer sent-the-Elop-trojan-horse tin-foil-hat enthusiast...

    ...or maybe just somewhere in the middle and had hoped to buy an N9 - and its successors - in order to own an open phone with a great user experience.

    It's quite clear that the Nokia we knew is toast.

  16. icedfusion
    Angel

    it is alright.....

    .....because I am sure that if it all goes titsup, Mr. Elop will still get a huge payoff as Nokia shrink back to a size where they can only make rubber boots saying 'remember when nokia were a massive phone maker!'

    ice.

    Divine 'cos there is money to made when things go to shit.

  17. dervheid
    Facepalm

    What. The. Fuck.

    Seriously. talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. What a knob.

  18. Andy Nugent

    Title

    If Nokia / Microsoft are worried that the WP7 devices won't be able to compete with the N9, it doesn't say a lot for their chances against iOS & Android.

    And @StrictlySocial, I've only had a brief play with a Mango device, and to be honest I'll reserve judgement until the app updates have come out to make use of the multitasking and the bugs are ironed out (I can't actually get it to add Twitter / LinkedIn accounts, even though the authorization completed, etc).

    But the current release is basically a feature phone with a big screen and large price tag. I got one to try out through work that cost £450: using RunKeeper was a joke (brush any of the buttons and it shuts down), Last.fm client that shuts off when you want to do anything else, no Twitter/FB notifications for messages, etc, etc.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    This is not news.

    When the phone was annouced officially on the Nokia website the US and UK weren't listed.

    Geeks loved the N900 but the company only sold 100,000 of them worldwide and had enough stock left over to give them away to employees. I don't think they made any money on Maemo. The worst thing about this is that the same upper management that continually changed direction on Symbian and MeeGo, thereby guaranteeing missed targets and rushed out software, are still in charge of WP7. Jo Harlow's emails already have 'Sent from Windows Phone' appended to the end right now. It's such a kick in the balls for everyone else. And this won't be the first time announced phones will be cancelled because they'll conflict with a WP7 device that in the same price bracket (but has far less functionality).

    The Symbian Anna and Belle UI updates are actually really nice, still some things to iron out. There's a feeling in the company that if/when WP7 fails Nokia will come running back to Symbian or they'll just give up entirely. Hopefully if that happens Accenture will have control instead of the Powerpoint addicted fools in Espoo.

    1. Mr Floppy

      first five weeks

      They sold less than 100000 in the first five weeks starting back in november 2009. Wasn't even available here after it was released for more than five months. That said, it wasn't aimed at the mass market and it sales exceed expectations. They had planned to manufacture 30000 per month but upped that to 100000. That despite the absolute rubbish job Nokia did in promoting the device.

    2. Andus McCoatover
      Windows

      "Geeks loved the N900"

      Phew. Thought you said "Greeks". Going in a few days.

      Oh well. "Blessed are the cheesemakers...etc."

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Bye bye Nokia

    What the hell do Microsoft have against mobile phone companies?

    They put Sendo out of business, and now are trying their best with Nokia?

    How many other small phone companies have they killed that we haven't heard about?

  21. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Mushroom

    WTF

    He's systematically destroying Nokia.

    The USAns do like their simple phones just to make calls and maybe text as well, so he's decided not to sell them there any more.

    Symbian is actually quite big in Japan so he's pulling out of Japan.

    Countries in Europe which would be interested in smartphones aren't getting the N9, instead emerging markets get them, which I suppose means someone from an emerging market would only need to spend six month's salary to buy one, i.e. no sale either.

    WTF aren't the board holding him accountable? Surely even they realise he's driving the company into the ground. Or are they all Microsoft plants as well?

    1. Goat Jam
      Windows

      Elop

      I assume he's one of those smooth talking shysters that could sell ice cream to eskimos and he has the Nokia board convinced that his WP7 gamble will pay off.

      By the time they figure out he is selling snake oil it will be too late.*

      * It is probably already too late.

    2. Yag
      Mushroom

      perhaps the Board's best hope...

      ... is a takeover from MS with a juicy purchase price as a bailout.

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Trollface

    good call

    Last thing anybody needs is for a herd of looters taking the phones for free.

  23. ScissorHands
    Trollface

    Thankfully the PIGS are now considered to be "emerging"

    Because Portugal was listed as a launch country for the N9. I'll probably get one, if my local Nokia Store will let me play with it. (yes, we still have those as well)

  24. Andus McCoatover
    Windows

    going to Greece next week...

    ..maybe I can snap one up there. After all, with their financial problems, I guess Elop will call them an "Emerging Market"...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Preorder one in Finland

      IIRC you're in Finland, so just preorder one from verkkokauppa.com. The price is not set yet so they've got it at 999.

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    > "MeeGo had been the collective hope of the company..."

    No it hadn't - a fair few engineers (note the distinction) hoped that management would pull their fingers out, stop p*ssing around and finally commit to fixing the Symbian UI (formerly known as S60). Anna looks nice but it should've been done years ago. Makes you wonder who sabotaged the whole Symbian thing...

  26. Herer
    Go

    Email him directly

    amazingly he has been replying to my emails:

    stephen.elop@nokia.com<stephen.elop@nokia.com>;

  27. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    So, where *are* they going to sell their flagship phone?

    I can't find any indication on the Nokia N9 website swipe.nokia.com, and the 'availability checker' bit seems to be gradually updating by removing countries from the list.

    Elop, seriously. What the hell are you doing?

    Are you genuinely trying to kill Nokia, or simply incompetent?

    From the outside it really looks like those are the only two possibilities.

  28. hahnchen
    FAIL

    It's not getting released, not because Nokia fear it to be bad

    But they fear it to be good. What a fucking disgrace.

    Can you imagine any other company doing that? They fear it'll cannibalise the WP7 market which they don't own, and doesn't exist. This is a company that has given up on their own future. This is a company that deserves to fail.

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Greece?

    Hell, Finland will be an emerging market by the time Elop is finished. Perkele.

  30. Pseu Donyme

    Why

    ... insist keeping all the eggs in one basket? Keeping Meego around would not be that expensive or difficult. At the very least having an option would help keep Micrsoft (more) honest.

  31. dansus

    Greys?

    What dodgy grey channels like Expansys?

  32. Bruno Girin
    FAIL

    Makes my choice simple

    When I replace my N900, it will be an Android phone then.

  33. Terry Barnes
    Stop

    Hmm

    So many opinionated experts posting their cellular masterplans here and yet strangely none of them are CEOs of tech companies. Funny that.

  34. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    Why would anyone buy Nokia's second best effort?

    Obviously Nokia know the N9 is better than WP7 so they stop you from buying the N9. If the N9 is a runaway success in the regions it is available I'm pretty sure Nokia will close down the factory making it.

    Who in their right mind would now give Nokia their good money to buy what they clearly consider to be an inferior product?

    Buy the N9, and/or boycott Nokia WP7. Simple - any other outcome means that Nokia succeed and every consumer loses.

    1. Goat Jam
      Windows

      Correction

      Buy the N9, and/or boycott Nokia WP7. Simple - any other outcome means that Microsoft succeed and every consumer loses.

      There, I fixed it for you.

  35. rfap

    I'm still getting one

    Possibly the last open OS mobile that will ever be available. If you've used a N900 for any amount of time then you will know that it is damn hard finding a mobile that actually matches it 2 years on, never mind betters it. Expansys got my preorder last week for a 64GB version.

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