Nokia Corporation (NOK) Shortchanges China Mobile Ltd. (CHL)

Sources: HTC and Nokia.

The point is that the differences between these devices in terms of hardware is marginal, at best, and Nokia’s supply constraints are an opportunity for HTC to swoop in and win over consumers who are interested in Windows Phone 8. The Taiwanese OEM has fallen on hard times with its Android offerings as Samsung eats its lunch, so it figured it might as well give Windows Phone 8 a try.

The Android rises
If Nokia isn’t able to close sales, those buyers are more likely to move on and buy a readily available substitute. One of the consequences of its decision to fully embrace Windows Phone was a major sacrifice in market share in China. Nokia’s Symbian platform was once the dominant platform within the Middle Kingdom, and ditching Symbian has hurt its position in China.

In Symbian’s place, Android has stepped up to fill the void, and you can see that most of Android’s gains in China have come directly at the expense of Symbian. Meanwhile, Windows Phone is still trying to ramp up in China.

Nokia needs to work through these supply constraints posthaste, because otherwise, they’re going to be quite painful.

The article Nokia Shortchanges China Mobile originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Evan Niu, CFA.

Fool contributor Evan Niu, CFA, owns shares of Qualcomm. The Motley Fool recommends Google. The Motley Fool owns shares of China Mobile, Google, Microsoft, and Qualcomm.

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