Windows 8 Tablet in June 2012, Says Nokia Executive

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The head of Nokia France claims that the company will produce a Windows 8 tablet in June of next year.

Paul Amsellem, head of Nokia France, recently confirmed with local newspaper Les Echos that the company will indeed release a Windows 8 tablet next year. There are also plans for two additional Windows Phone handsets in the same timeframe, one higher-end than the current Lumia 800 and one less expensive than the Lumia 710.

"[The Lumia 800 is] a bit the equivalent of the BMW 5 Series," said Amsellem [as translated from French]. "We will soon have a full range with a Series 7 and Series 3," he said (continuing his BMW comparison). "And in June 2012, we will have a tablet running Windows 8."

Based on a "leaked" roadmap, Windows 8 is scheduled to go into beta during CES 2012 in January, followed by a Release Candidate in April. After that, the upcoming OS is expected to see an RTM release in June followed by the final retail version in August. That said, consumers may not actually see Windows 8 devices until August 2012.

Naturally Nokia is neither confirming nor denying the development of a Windows 8 tablet despite Amsellem's comment. "We haven’t announced any plans anywhere in the world at this point regarding a potential tablet strategy," a Nokia spokesperson stated.

Nokia also would not elaborate on the comment about the two upcoming Lumia phones. "There is no doubt that in the long term we view our Windows Phone 'Lumia' devices as a portfolio play – today we have announced 2 devices in the portfolio – the Nokia Lumia 710 and the Nokia Lumia 800," the spokesperson added. "However, the Nokia Lumia 800 represents the ‘flagship’ of our current portfolio – and we haven’t revealed what else may be in store in the future for the Lumia portfolio."

Wednesday at a Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecoms Conference in Barcelona, Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop said that the company plans to undercut Windows Phone rivals to give its new smartphones a foothold in the market before trying to improve margins.

"You see us pricing the devices so that that we can get what we think will be a good volume," Elop told Reuters. "What we hear from developers (is) they recognize the commitment we have made. We need to ship volumes of devices to further attract them."

Kevin Parrish
16 Comments Comment from the forums
  • loomis86
    this means the iPad will be dead in the water by 2013...and likely the iPhone will begin a gradual decline about the same time.

    I give it 5 years and apple will be moribund.
    Reply
  • back_by_demand
    How many years after Jobs left Apple for the first time did it take them to slide to the edge of obscurity?
    ...
    I give it the same amount of time again, except the only way Jobs is coming back this time is with a flashlight and a shovel
    Reply
  • soo-nah-mee
    THIS is going to be the iPad killer.
    I've owned an iPhone 3GS and a WP7 phone, the latter of which is a very accurate preview of what a W8 tablet will be, and the WP7 wins hands down. This Metro UI is amazing.
    I don't think it will actually kill the iPad for real, but it will take a massive amount of tablet business away from them on a scale that Android will never come close to.
    Reply
  • soo-nah-mee
    I'm definitely going to get a Transformer Prime as soon as they are released, but I have a strong feeling that in "June 2012" it will be listed on Craiglist and a Nokia W8 tablet will take its place.
    We'll see.
    Reply
  • back_by_demand
    The way I see it, anyone with a W7 tablet will be able to install W8 either in Beta right now or retail later, as long as you like the hardware then what is stopping you? As long as the system is no less powerful than a bottom end netbook then get to it. This is one example of early adopters not being penalised and, even better, if you are a Linux fan you should be able to dual-boot.
    Reply
  • soo-nah-mee
    ^The only problem is that the W7 tablets that are out now are expensive mini-PCs.

    Comparatively, the upcoming W8 tablets are likely going to be SoC style hardware (similar to current Android tabs and iPads), hopefully in the $400-500 price range.

    ApplesPears to oranges really. Otherwise I would get W7 tab and install the W8 beta ASAP.

    Reply
  • stormblade42
    I don't know about iPad killer. The thing that Apple did well was set up the infrastructure via iTunes for consumers to shop and purchase apps for the iPad. Apps are what make the tablet fun to use and create value for it. IMO Microsoft needs to create a central distribution point for information and purchasing of software for their Win tablets to really gain a foothold. Media streaming and viewing is great but I think people want more than that in a device.
    Reply
  • soo-nah-mee
    stormblade42I don't know about iPad killer. The thing that Apple did well was set up the infrastructure via iTunes for consumers to shop and purchase apps for the iPad. Apps are what make the tablet fun to use and create value for it. IMO Microsoft needs to create a central distribution point for information and purchasing of software for their Win tablets to really gain a foothold. Media streaming and viewing is great but I think people want more than that in a device.Something like this?
    Growing larger by the minute too.
    Reply
  • belardo
    The Win8 Tablets should do VERY well in the market... key word is "SHOULD". Because as we see, WP7 has done horrible in the phone market, even though its an excellent phone interface (I use a WP7 interface on my Android).

    The fact that ALL Win8 apps will run on ALL WM8 devices (tablets / phones) is what will make MS powerful in the market. Its a matter of MS not fracking up the Win8 desktop user experience.

    But no, Win/WM8 is not going to destroy apple. It's going to finish off Blackberry and take a chunk of market share from Android while making a small dent in iOS. Remember, Apple is working on a similar plan to merge iOS with their desktop OS.

    Reply
  • kartu
    iPhone market went from nearly 100% to about 18% WHILE JOBBS WAS STILL ALIVE, ok? (it's less than what Samsung sells)
    iPad went from 100% last year to about 30% this year. This number was expected to gradually decrease BY ALL ANALISTS and again WHILE JOBBS WAS STILL AIVE, ok?

    PS
    Regarding TFA, I'm disgusted by the fact that former Microsoft executive could become CEO of a major brand and turn the company into Microsoft's exclusive hardware boy.
    Reply