Nokia scraps its first MeeGo phone

Nokia has canceled its first MeeGo phone before it even had a chance to launch, according to a report by Reuters, citing two industry sources.

The news, if true, can be read in multiple ways. You could look at it as yet another failure for Nokia, or, more optimistically, you can view it as a wise decision if the company’s first MeeGo device wasn’t living up to its expectations. I choose the latter.

Nokia has been talking about MeeGo, its joint OS project with Intel, for more than a year now. And while developers have seen it in action, the company has yet to publicly show off the OS — and more importantly, to explain why it will be worth the wait. So if Nokia realized that its first stab at a MeeGo device wasn’t up to snuff, the wisest decision would be to drop it and try something new.

The canceled device may be the Nokia 9-00, a smartphone with a sliding hardware keyboard similar to the E7.

A second MeeGo device may still make an appearance during Nokia CEO Stephen Elop’s announcement on Friday, where he plans to unveil his grand new corporate strategy. Elop will reportedly sack several Nokia executives on Friday. And given his recent memo to Nokia employees, I think there’s a good chance we’ll see the company partner with Microsoft to provide Windows Phone 7 devices.