Nokia has pulled no punches over the past few days when talking ecosystems. CEO Stephen Elop has repeatedly talked about the 'three ecosystems' and how the Nokia/Microsoft deal has created a 'three horse race'.
He's talking about Android, iOS and Windows Phone as the three horses in said contest; but what about RIM?
Elop was dismissive of the BlackBerry maker when answering questions at the company's Mobile World Congress press conference on Friday.
"We believe the work we've done with Symbian and the C3, combined with the business capabilities of Microsoft, gives us a very strong competitive position relative to everyone in the environment. The obvious and visible ecosystems are us, Android and Apple," Elop told journalists.
Zing!
Ouch, right? RIM is understandably unimpressed at being dismissed and omitted from Nokia's race but is taking it philosophically, as Jeff McDowell, RIM's Senior VP Business Segment Marketing & Alliances, told us:
"We're the leader in the business market with the sales data to back that up, particularly in Europe and the UK. So really it's Nokia that looks bad for misunderstanding our reach.
"They actually make it easier for us by not considering us a competitor. But I think they know they'll be competing with BlackBerry, even if they won't publically say so."
Nokia claims to have lampooned the physical QWERTY market with its popular C3 Touch and Type handset, but entering with a low-cost handset isn't exactly a coup.
BlackBerry is not keen on entering the fray, however, with McDowell admitting that he's barely thought about the Nokia/Microsoft deal because, with the imminent launch of the PlayBook, RIM has plenty of its own business to attend to.
