Is Nokia about to abandon Symbian for Android or Windows 7 Mobile?

Mobile phone behemoth Nokia may be about to abandon its Symbian operating system for Google’s Android or Microsoft’s Windows 7 mobile, if comments by the company’s Chief Executive Stephen Elop are to be believed.

Speaking at the announcement of Nokia’s Q4 profit results Elop said that the company would be considering “multiple ecosystem patterns” to bolster falling profits. While still profitable Nokia has failed to ignite the smartphone market with its Symbian operating system and, in the past year, has seen its market share fall by 8% to 37% of the mobile market. In contrast Google’s three year old Android operating system has grown to 26% of the US market and has already overtaken Symbian in several countries, including Ireland, Germany and France.

Elop said,

“In addition to great device experiences we must build, capitalise and/or join a competitive ecosystem. The ecosystem approach we select must be comprehensive and cover a wide range of utilities and services that customers expect today and anticipate in the future.”

Nokia would not be the first mobile/OS phone manufacturer to adopt Android; Sony Ericsson, Samsung, LG and Motorola, amongst others have released Android powered phones, often as a complement to their current set of mobile phones and operating systems. However the released of, or wholesale adoption of, Android would be seen as a blow to the standing of for the Finnish mobile company.