Nokia Reportedly Changing Carrier Partnership Strategy to Boost Windows Phone Sales

Nokia is rumored to be making a change to their partnership strategy that would mark a radical shift from past practices. According to Daniel Thomas of the Financial Times, Nokia is in talks with European Carriers — whether or not Nokia is planning to extend this offer to US carriers has yet to be seen — to sign exclusive partnerships that would grant them a share of Nokia’s revenue in exchange for stronger promotion of Nokia phones. This move would likely remove Nokia phones from some networks, but it could potentially boost sales by increasing Nokia’s exposure to the public with the direct aid of carriers.

Marketing for Windows Phone in general has been very lackluster until AT&T and Nokia stepped up and started to heavily promote the Lumia 900, but even they can only do so much on their own. While Nokia devices won’t be as widespread in such a move, active support from carriers could be the catalyst that they need to gain a stronger foothold in the market.

With the Windows Phone 8 RTM build reportedly releasing in September and new devices shipping by November, the next couple of months are vital for Nokia as they build up to the release of Windows Phone 8. Laying the groundwork and hyping up the next iteration of Windows Phone now could pay dividends once November rolls around. Nokia is pinning a lot of their hopes on the next wave of Windows Phone as it could make or break the company.

[via Financial Times]