Andy Rubin, vice president of Google’s mobile platforms, commented during a conference, that the company is eager for Nokia to jump onboard their Android ship. Analysts have expressed continuing concerns about Nokia’s abysmal smartphone performance in the U.S., and are hoping that the company’s recently appointed top leadership can change the downward trend.

Rubin is hoping that the new leadership of Nokia will consider Android as a platform to adopt, as their Symbian platform is facing a hard time catching up with Android and iOS, besides the emergence of Windows Phone 7.

Asked pointedly whether Google has discussed Android with Nokia, Rubin answered: “I think the company has new leadership and … they are evaluating what their options are … I’m a big proponent of Android and I hope they adopt it.”

About whether a meeting took place, Rubin only said: “I’m not going to talk in detail.”

A Nokia spokeswoman refused to comment Wednesday on whether executives from the two firms have discussed Android adoption by Nokia. Analysts speculated that the two firms have met — or will meet — to discuss Android. Such a discussion makes sense given Nokia’s current mamagement transformation, they add.

Nokia is clearly the leading mobile phone manufacturer worldwide, holding about 34% of the overall market and 33% of the global smartphone market, according to recent figures released by Gartner and IDC respectively. However, Nokia trails other smartphone OSs and devices in the U.S., and does not even register on some surveys, including ComScore’s most recent ranking.

Frankly it’ll not be easy for Nokia to abandon their Symbian platform and pursue a new future, but I believe that it’ll at least be a good way to penetrate the smartphone market.

SOURCE via Computer World