"We know you can be successful by not manufacturing your on phones. Look at ," she added.

Gold added: "Microsoft needs to support Nokia as much as it can, but it should not buy it."

Nokia on Thursday said it is critical for Windows Phone to attain 10% market share over time, well above its current level of less than 3%. But getting there is still an unclear goal, given that Microsoft and Nokia haven't produced phones intended from inception to have hardware working with Windows Phone software, analysts said.

"The overall issue with Nokia is that they haven't yet fully executed their Microsoft strategy," Enderle noted. Nokia's recent was designed before the Windows Phone partnership with Microsoft was announced last year, he said.

"We have yet to see hardware that was designed for the Windows Phone software, or for Nokia to use their special rights to create a unique Windows Phone experience," Enderle added.