Nokia has a big decision to announce Friday and Google VP (and former Microsoft VP) Vic Gundotra might have the inside track.
Vic Gondotra is a Google (GOOG) VP who doesn’t shy away from making abrupt public statements. Last night, likely referring to Nokia’s (NOK) impending February 11 announcement on whether it will go with Android or Microsoft’s (GOOG) Windows Phone 7, he tweeted:
Two turkeys do not make an Eagle
Gundotra was likely in on talks with Nokia and Google on licensing Android so he’s in a position to know whether or not Android was chosen to be Nokia’s platform.
By itself, it would seem that he’s implying that Nokia is going with Windows. But the statement has even more historical significance.
In 2005, when Siemens and BenQ were forming an ill-fated alliance to take on Nokia in Europe, Nokia’s then executive vice president and general manager of multimedia at Nokia, Anssi Vanjoki, said the following at a Nokia Connection event:
“The integration of the handset units of the two companies is equivalent to one big problem meeting another, Vanjoki commented on the Siemens-BenQ deal, while answering questions fielded by reporters on the sidelines of Nokia Connection 2005 (June 13-15). The effect of the merger deal should be limited because “two turkeys together won’t make an eagle,” Vanjoki asserted.
Vanjoki left Nokia one day before Nokia World this year in an apparent disagreement with the way the company was heading.
By the way, I could be entirely wrong. Vic Gundotra could be a disciple of Ben Franklin, who would wholeheartedly disagree with the assertion that eagles are better than turkeys.