Is a Nokia (NOK) Tablet Coming? Yes? No? Maybe So?

Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) was anticipating a good reception from its press event Wednesday , when it released its two top-line Lumia handsets, the 920 and 820, and the Windows Phone 8 operating system from Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). But it seems that Nokia stubbed its toe when the company announced the handsets wouldn’t be out until the fourth quarter of 2012 – which is plenty of time for the hype to die down, especially since there is talk that a new iPhone by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) may be available in the market before the end of the month. That delay contributed to Nokia stock falling nearly 10 percent Wednesday after the press event.

Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK)

Well now, as time goes on and the tablet market expands, Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) acknowledges the growth of tablets and the complementary relationship of tablets with smartphones, yet Nokia executives are making no statements that Nokia is working on a tablet to go with its new smartphones. The closest one gets to an affirmation of a tablet came from Jo Harlow, Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) vice president of smart devices, when she said, “We’re looking at the tablet space. It’s a growing category. It’s a natural companion to smartphones. And that’s something that we’re following very closely.”

But what impact would Nokia have the longer it delays and with its Lumia partner, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) unveiling its proprietary Surface tablet next month? Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) executives are remaining very coy but respectful, noting that Microsoft will enter the tablet ecosystem but should not disrupt it with just two devices, which leaves room for other devices. and Nokia won’t commit that it’s working on a tablet, much less a Windows-based tablet. Would Nokia work on an Android-based tablet instead? It at least seemed by some of the comments made that the company went out of its way to specifically say it wasn’t working on a Windows tablet.

It seems pretty clear that Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) needs to make a splash, and while its Lumia handsets gets good reviews from tech critics, it’s possible that the delay in delivering the handsets to market will hurt Nokia – unless, of course, Nokia is relying on the marketing prowess of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) to sell its Windows 8 platform leading up to its October launch – and by extension, the Windows Phone 8 and its hardware partners like Nokia.

If there is no splash from Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) soon, the company may have its fatal blow in relevance, which would affect investors like hedge-fund manager Paul Tudor Jones of Tudor Investment Group.