The sources said the Finnish firm had dropped its plan to launch a phone based on the MeeGo operating system, increasing the possibility it might switch systems. Such a switch is seem by some investors as the best option for troubled Nokia.
In a leaked internal memo, Chief Executive Stephen Elop hinted at the move, writing: "We thought MeeGo would be a platform for winning high-end smartphones. However, at this rate, by the end of 2011, we might have only one MeeGo product in the market."
In the same memo posted on Nokia's internal website this week, Elop comparing its position to a man on a burning oil platform, wondering whether he dares to jump. Industry sources said the memo, published in full in the Financial Times on Wednesday, was genuine.
A spokesman for Nokia declined to comment. MeeGo, seen key to Nokia's battle in the high-end smartphone market, was created last year by the merger of Nokia and Intel's
Linux-based platforms Maemo and Moblin. Nokia, the largest handset maker by volume, has seen industry newcomers Apple and Google sweep up most of the profits in the wireless industry in just few years after their entrance to the sector.
