Nintendo would get laughed out of the market if they made their own proprietary smartphone OS. There is only room for iOS, Android, Blackberry OS and (in the future) Windows Phone 7. There are specific reasons for why each and every one of the above operating systems are relevant.
Blackberry OS is the over-the-hill dinosaur of the pack but Blackberry is the gold standard in the business world and while many people are jumping off the Blackberry bandwagon, they still have a solid core of loyal non-business customers too. Especially here in Canada. Blackberry is popular with young people here still.
And iOS is popular because 1) It is a stronger multimedia platform than Blackberry OS. 2) The Apple and iPhone brands are very strong. While Android beats iOS in smartphone OS marketshare, the Android brand isn't as strong because Android is a fragmented platform. And the individual manufacturers like HTC, Samsung and Motorola don't have the brand power that Apple does. 3) The iPhone had the benefit of coming out before Android. The first Android (HTC's G1) didn't come out until 16 months after the iPhone and it took awhile for Android to really pick up steam in the market.
And Android is relevant and the no.1 smartphone OS today because A) They have an open platform with many manufacturers working with the OS and B)They beat Windows Phone 7 to the punch by 2 years. Giving them a massive head start in the app market department.
Windows Phone 7 will be more of a player in the future. They have support from multiple manufacturers, Microsoft's stringent licensing policies prevent crappy manufacturers from putting out crap with the Windows Phone 7 name (there are lots of crappy Android handsets in the wild) and they have a slick and sexy OS.
A Nintendo smartphone OS would fail because Apple and RIM (Blackberry) are pretty much the only manufacturers that can get away with a proprietary smartphone OS at this point. Like I said, Blackberry is the business world gold standard. And Apple filled a need for a multimedia-focused smartphone before Google and Microsoft stepped into the game (Microsoft did have Windows Mobile 6 but that wasn't serious competition by any means).
The idea of an Android-powered Nintendophone is interesting but who knows how successful it would be financially. It would be a huge departure from Nintendo's business model. For one, they wouldn't get any more licensing fees from other developers. They'd have to make their revenue off selling the hardware, their first-party software and through whatever deals they set up with cellular carriers. The Xperia Play bombed but to be fair, Sony didn't do shit with Playstation Suite. And the Xperia Play from what I've been reading isn't all that good as a smartphone. It's basically an overpriced medicore smartphone with a slide-out gamepad.
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