At the All Things Digital conference earlier this week, Microsoft's hardware partners showed off various and even Microsoft Office, all using the same kind of ARM processor-based technology that Nokia traditionally excels in.

Nokia is going to have to produce something exceptional, Kerton said.

"The problem for Nokia is that the existing tablets and associated app stores cover a lot of ground. The is able to spot market opportunity and extend the devices to meet it. That doesn't leave much for Nokia unless their hardware is significantly different," he said.