Android-powered Nokia netbook to hit carriers next year

While less-than-popular crossover devices like the Internet Tablet line and the E90 pictured above might not be overly pleased by the news, Android fans may be excited to learn that Nokia is reportedly eying Google’s OS for a next-gen product. While Bloomberg is fairly certain that the outcome of Nokia and Intel’s efforts will be a new line of netbooks and/or smartbooks, Lazard Capital Markets analyst Daniel Amir takes things in a slightly different direction with the following statement:

In our conversations with ODMs, we have confirmed that Nokia is planning to enter the netbook market with a Google Android, ARM-based netbook that would be sold at carriers. Considering this market is dominated by the PC players, we believe Nokia could face an uphill battle to succeed in this market.

Considering we know for a fact that Nokia and Intel have been working on some new products, it seems odd that Nokia would enter uncharted territory with ARM as well. So yeah, we’re going to go ahead and keep the rumor tag on this one despite claims of confirmation because, well, you know. Stranger things have certainly happened however, especially where our friends in Finland are concerned, so it will be interesting to see how this one plays out. Could Nokia be preparing to enter an already-cluttered netbook market with multiple Intel devices and one or more ARM devices?