We can only speculate, my guess would be:

Symbian was too much under a competitors (NOKIA's) control whereas Google/Android was seen as neutral. I have read any third-party submission to the Symbian Foundation's code base needed NOKIA's approval and that was rarely given.

Symbian made hardware integration difficult, Android made it much easier and processors and RAM in smartphones had reached the level they could take up the slack of a less efficient OS.



In 2010 NOKIA and Symbian attracted more new customers than either Apple or Samsung. Not delusion, verifiable fact. In Q1 2011 Elop deprecates Symbian/MeeGo. Not delusion, verifiable fact. You should try working with facts, you'll struggle at first but I'm sure you'll the hang of it.

If you actually read and understood the blog you'd know Elop and the board had explicitly stated in a report they submitted to the NYSE there was a risk carriers, retailers and consumers would drop support for NOKIA's existing products once they announced their new Windows Phone strategy, they also stated once support for the brand had been dropped they might not be able to regain it. And so it came to pass.

I was sure Elop must have known that outcome was very much on the cards, now it's verified.

They also stated they were aware Windows Phone had already failed to gain any significant traction in the market.

They spelled out all the reasons it was a really crap strategy and then went ahead with it anyway