Who Will Intel (INTC) Partner with on MeeGo After Nokia (NOK) Defection?

Now that MeeGo is dead for Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) as far as Nokia (NYSE:NOK) goes, the question is who will they find to replace them, now that Intel CEO Paul Otellini has gone on record as saying they will search for a new partner for the smartphone platform.

With the No.1 phone manufacturer Nokia gone, the next in line would be Samsung, the No. 2 phone manufacturer. They already have their own open source platform called Bada, so couldn't be in the running.

RIM (RIMM) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) have their own platforms and aren't interesting in branching out, and most of the rest are going with Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android as their smartphone platform of choice.

While there are a few potential candidates out there, why would they risk going with the rejected MeeGo when the line in the platform battle appear to have already been drawn.

Why would any company wanting to compete in the smartphone market choose a tiny ecosystem versus an already-established giant one?

Intel is in for a tough sell. And even if they find a partner, it's dubious as to what they could add to Intel, as they would almost assuredly be a very small player in the market.