Nokia seems to be using Maemo as an incubator for developing the best possible software platform for portable devices.

Instead of concentrating entirely on Symbian, Nokia seem to be putting a lot of time and money into Maemo too, not just spreading their bets but actually developing a comprehensive strategy for the future of their phone range.

A lot of people criticised Nokia for falling behind Apple with the iPhone, but looking back it now seems that Nokia was actually ahead of Apple by starting the Maemo project several years ago. If Nokia can now make a good implementation of Maemo on a phone, include a good app store and a slick-looking sexy interface, it could be a very very strong rival to the iPhone.

I don't think things like the 5800 are iPhone rivals because they're in a totally different price range and the 5800's computing hardware is much simpler and cheaper to manufacture. Upcoming Maemo computing hardware though seems to be a lot closer to the iPhone's specs and price range.

Not so much "taking on" Symbian but working alongside it.

The phone market is made up of many different classes of product at many different price levels. The highest end device is about 700 euros unlocked/unbranded/SIM-free, mid-range is about 200-300 euros, while the lowest end device is about 30 euros.

Most phone sales come from low end devices, but a lot of the profits come from high end devices, so both markets are very important to large phone manufacturers. It's a bit like air travel, most tickets sold are economy class but a lot of the profits come from business/first class so most airlines try to offer both classes.

Nokia have always had two OSes on their phones: one OS for the high end models and one for the low end models, with a mixture of these two OSes in the middle.

Lowest end Nokia phone models currently use the Series 40 platform which runs on Nokia's own proprietary closed OS (aka "NokiaOS"). Highest end Nokia phone models currently use the S60 platform which runs on the Symbian OS. Some phones in the middle use Symbian, some use NokiaOS.

What may happen is that NokiaOS would gradually disappear completely, Symbian could take over the low end and mid-range market, while Maemo-based phones could become the new platform for Nokia high end devices.

I have absolutely no direct evidence about whether this is true, but this theory seems to fit the facts, and some people on here have said they were told by Nokia that Maemo would be the new high end.

Here's what I'm basing my guesses on:

-Nokia tablet sales are probably very small, hardly any shops sell them compared to Nokia phones, and Nokia has never revealled sales figures (they would reveal the figures if the tablet sales had been a success).

-Despite low tablet sales, Nokia continues to increase investment in Maemo in the middle of a recession when other Nokia departments are being shrunk. Lots of job adverts for Maemo workers at Nokia have appeared over the last year or so. Some Nokia employees point me to the job adverts when I try to ask them what Maemo's future is.

-Nokia's Symbian device sales are very good, they sell better than any other smartphone OS, but those sales are starting to come from devices further down the price scale. For example by far the best-selling Symbian device right now is the 5800, which is about 250-300 euros unlocked. That means Nokia's best-selling Symbian device is in the mid-range market and not in the high end.

-Nokia's Symbian phones used to have 3d hardware but no longer do, and they don't have OMAP3 either.

-Maemo devices are getting 3D hardware and OMAP3 in the near future.

-Nokia seems to be deliberately holding back Symbian hardware to keep its price down, and instead putting the highest end hardware on Maemo. If they're doing that, it would imply they want Maemo to be the new high end of their phone range.

...or I could be wrong about all this of course. But if it's accurate then the question is when will Nokia actually make a maemo-based phone. Some people on here have speculated that it might appear in the next major OS update after Fremantle which would be Harmattan.