Yes, this is a clear adjacency move. Whether or not it’s misguided is yet to be seen.

Kai Oistamo, the head of Nokia’s devices business, said “We are in the business of connecting people and the Nokia Booklet 3G is a natural evolution for us.”

I agree with this, and I can see why a project like this would be hard to kill at the head office. But the point you made was critical; what is their product offering that others aren’t? Right now, it seems like very little.

If they expect the mere fact that they are offering a netbook to be the thing that makes it successful, then I agree that it will flop.

Instead, their “open eyes” need to be open minds. They need to be flexible with the way this product is marketed. And frankly, I believe marketing is the make-or-break factor for this product. If they can leverage Nokia’s brand equities and promotional tools in the right way, this move might stand a chance.

It also wouldn’t hurt if they had some product synergies that made owning both a Nokia phone and a Nokia netbook beneficial.