Nokia (NYSE:NOK) Facing Short-Term Concerns Over Existing Platforms

The recently announced deal between Nokia (NYSE:NOK) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) to use Microsoft's Window Phone 7 as the platform of choice should be beneficial over the long term to both companies, but in the short term, it presents a number of challenges.

This apparently came about from the lack of making a timely decision, as the company seems to have waited a too long, the reason they face the short-term challenges they do.

Part of this is probably related to the revelations that Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) had been contacted and in negotiations with Nokia over partnering.

Google really wanted the partnership, according to outgoing CEO Eric Schmidt, while Research in Motion reportedly declined the offer. That would have taken some time to work through, and it seems Google especially had pursued Nokia over time and aggressively.

Either way, Nokia is left with the problem of releasing devices with their existing platforms, which will be a challenge to attract developers over.

While most are writing off MeeGo as a legitimate platform (the company may release on device on it in 2011), they still plan on using Symbian, according to the mobile giant, although it's possible it may be a temporary solution until they start to release devices using Windows Phone 7 as their platform of choice.

The result could be a lower number of shipments in the short term, and the possibility of taking time to gain momentum over the long term; although that will depend on execution and quality, which remains to be proven.

Nokia has said they still expect to sell 150 million devices with Symbian as the platform in the years ahead.

Nokia closed Tuesday at $9.07, gaining $0.23, or 2.60 percent.