So Nokia sold over 28 million smartphones last quarter, including over 5 million Symbian^3 devices, its 7th consecutive quarter of increasing smartphone sales. They sold twice the number of smartphones as Apple (Android overall is approaching symbian levels, but that is not just one manufacturer) and sold 123 million phones worldwide.

I understand they are hurting badly in the US market, but why would they abandon an OS that has about 1/3 of the smartphone market worldwide? The idea that they would pick up Windows mobile 7, which shipped (not even sold) two million copies of their phone OS last quarter is ludicrous.

They have lots to do to break back into the US market, but if they can manage to do so the only direction for them is up. They could probably make serious inroads by pushing the E7 up against the blackberry for business users. But their problem here is the carriers. I love the fact that I have a phone that I own with no contract on T-Mobile. I am not sure what kind of no-contract deals AT&T offers, but the newest phones coming out from Nokia work fully with either carrier (and probably some of the smaller regional carriers as well). If they could bypass the carriers for sales and hook up directly with big chains like Best Buy and Office Depot and Frys, they could position the E7, N8, and N9 (as well as the C and X series) as a completely different type of deal for consumers. Many would see that kind of freedom from carrier contracts as a HUGE advantage over the well known situation iPhone users have faced with AT&T for years.

I won't hold my breath for the US retail sales, though.