Nokia picked Windows Phone over Android because of Samsung

Nokia chief Stephen Elop has already statedthat Windows Phone is the only focus forthe company. But ever since Nokia let go of Symbian and went with Windows Phone as themain OS, the question that has kept cropping up is why not Android. We now knowthe answer.
Speaking to a select groupof journalists,Elop said he’s happy with the decision of goingwith Windows Phone. "What we were worried about a couple of years ago was thevery high risk that one hardware manufacturer could come to dominateAndroid. We had a suspicionof who it might be, because of theresources available, thevertical integration,and we were respectfulof the fact that we were quite late inmaking that decision. Now fast forward to today and examine theAndroid ecosystem, and there's a lot of good devicesfrom many different companies, but one company has essentially now become the dominant player," he was quoted as saying by The Guardian .
While Elop didn’t name Samsung, it’s pretty clear which company he is referring to there. The Korean company has thesame vertical integration and resources that Elop points out. Samsung overtook Nokia as theworld’s leading mobilephone maker and is also the leading smartphonemaker in theworld with nearly 31 percent of themarket cornered. Since February 2011, when Nokia announcedits tie-up with Windows Phone, Android has become the most popularsmartphone OS, while iOS has slippedto second place. Windows Phone is still trying to play catch up along with BlackBerry, who have made a new effort with BB 10. While undoubtedly Windows Phone 8’s market share has risen,there’s still a long way to go and to add to thetask, Android is growing at breakneck speedsthanks to a slew of low-cost handsets and a plethora of options. So sometimes it does feellike Nokia made the wrongchoice.
On another level, themove to Windows Phone was strategically important to Nokia innegotiations with mobilecarriers, who more or less control what customers buy inmany important markets including the US. He said Nokia is thethird alternative to iOS and Android. "As an operator he (AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega) wants to negotiate with different people and keep pressure on everybody and have the best range of options, he wants that third alternative. So strategically we have an opening with AT&T and every other operator in theworld - because we've taken that path as thethird ecosystem.”
Elop added, "You look at a number of other Android providersright now and they're in a tough spot." The CEO stressed that gainingtraction will be a slow process but Windows Phone is increasing its market share bit by bit every quarter. In that sense, it does seem like a good decision. But if one day Windows Phone makes major headway inthe market, will Samsung not throw its weight behindthe platform?