Widely reported in the media today is the leak of an internal Nokia 'memo', penned by Nokia's CEO Stephen Elop. It lays out the problems facing Nokia, most notably around its software strategy, and argues that Nokia is "standing on a burning platform" with a choice to be made about the future. And what is that choice? That's what we'll be finding out on Friday, when Nokia holds its Analyst and Financial event (Capital Markets Day).

Engadget was the first to post the full text of the 'memo', but it was previously mentioned by The Register and TechCrunch. Our understanding is that the 'memo' comes from a blog post made by Stephen Elop on an internal Nokia Blog. This post was based on a speech given by Elop to a group of Nokia employees last week. It contains a stark and frank assessment of the issues facing Nokia.

This has generated a great deal of speculation around what Nokia will be announcing on Friday. However until we hear more precise details, it is difficult to draw any meaningful conclusions. Nonetheless, you are welcome to share your thoughts in the comments thread.

Rafe moonlighting

I've been asked to contribute to a number of other media outlets with commentary in this area, which you may be interested in reading.

The WIP (Wireless Industry Partnership) Blog has a series of posts previewing various people's expectations and hopes for MWC. They also have a great series of posts around how developers can get the most out of MWC and are are holding a WIP Jam event on Thursday as part of the App Planet programme at MWC.

They asked me how I saw the conversation around the future of Symbian playing out at MWC:

Following the closure of the Symbian Foundation Nokia are due to lay out their plans for how open source access to the Symbian operating system will work. However, I think people's attention will be elsewhere. That's because this conversation [at MWC] will be dictated by the strategy that Nokia's CEO, Stephen Elop, unveils on the Friday before MWC at the financial and analyst briefing. There are two realistic options. Firstly Nokia can continue with its current software strategy - Symbian and MeeGo, united by Qt - but with a clear outline of how execution will be improved. Secondly Nokia could add a new platform to its device portfolio, with the most likely candidate being Microsoft's Windows Phone.

Read more at WIP

  
Similarly Ewan at Mobile Industry Review asked for some thought on Nokia's Friday event:

Given Nokia’s market performance in the last few years, Elop’s mandate for change and the rumbling of rumours in the last few weeks I think it’s reasonable to assume that some major changes will likely be announced by Nokia on Friday.

Assuming that there are major changes, I think the introduction of Windows Phone to Nokia’s device portfolio is the most likely scenario. However, the real question is how far it will go. Dipping a toe in the water with a US focused device? Or a broader adoption that sees the eventual displacement of Symbian to lower costs devices?

Read more at MIR