Nokia's US woes continue as it cancels AT&T launch [of the X7].

"However, the change of plan is significant for Nokia, and there is a flood of speculation as to reasons. Most sources say the decision was made by the OEM, not by AT&T, and that the carrier is still interested in the phone - though not sufficiently interested to persuade its partner to change its mind, apparently. This probably indicates a sidelining of Symbian in the AT&T strategy, as it sees the almost unstoppable rise of Android. It is also giving Windows a higher profile than before since the launch of WP7, boasting of being the premier carrier for Microsoft's OS.

The WSJ reports that Nokia was dissatisfied with the level of subsidy and marketing support AT&T would give the X7 - and indeed, an unsuccessful launch, marred by operator indifference, would be worse than no launch at all. Many sources believe that Nokia has pulled back because it thinks the X7 would be lost in the crowd at AT&T, and it wants to make a far bigger impact by keeping its big AT&T announcement for a truly radical device. This would most likely run MeeGo - a higher end, more web-oriented OS, which is seen as more US friendly - and would aim to be a game changer rather than an also-ran. The question, of course, is whether Nokia can deliver that, given the low profile of its brand in the US, and whether AT&T would give it the kind of marketing support that would be necessary to raise its visibility."