They sure didn't make a go of it for very long. Nokia announced it is scrapping the CDMA-handset joint venture it announced in February with Sanyo. After a long struggle to build its own CDMA devices, the world's largest handset vendor is ramping down its own CDMA R&D and manufacturing by April 2007 and will only selectively participate in key CDMA markets, focusing primarily on North America. Nokia called the CDMA handset market a financially prohibitive ecosystem, and recent developments indicate that the CDMA emerging-market business case is looking more challenging. Nokia had hoped that the combination of its world-leading brand, its demand/supply expertise and its presence in the entry-level CDMA market would be a good combination with Sanyo.
"We feel it would not be in our best interests to make an agreement that proved to be less beneficial than originally anticipated," said Kai Öistämö, executive vice president of Nokia Mobile Phones. "After exploring all available opportunities and making every effort to create a sustainable CDMA business, this is our only viable option."
To read more about Nokia's scrapping of its JV with Sanyo:
- check out this release from Nokia