Nokia was actively testing Android on Lumia before selling handset division to Microsoft

“There is no Plan B. Plan B is for Plan A to succeed.”

Those words were spoken by a Nokia exec last year when analysts were doubting its choice of adopting Windows Phone OS.

Back in February of 2011 Microsoft and Nokia entered into a partnership that made Windows Phone “its primary smartphone strategy.” While Nokia reportedly represents over 80% of all the Windows Phone handsets sold, their market share has slowly declined.

Before Microsoft decided to spend a whopping $7.2 billion to purchase Nokia’s Devices & Services, Nokia was considering options – a ‘plan B’ of sorts. According to a report in the New York Times, Nokia was actively testing Android on Lumia devices.

“A team within Nokia had Android up and running on the company’s Lumia handsets well before Microsoft and Nokia began negotiating Microsoft’s $7.2 billion acquisition of Nokia’s mobile phone and services business, according to two people briefed on the effort who declined to be identified because the project was confidential. Microsoft executives were aware of the existence of the project, these people said.”

Apparently within the partnership agreement there was an option to exit in 2014, which could have paved way for the release of an Android Lumia smartphone. However, those dreams have now faded away. Hopefully the Android-powered Nokia Lumia pops up on eBay soon.

Source: NYT