So far, it’s just not Nokia’s (NYSE:NOK) year.

Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) earnings report this week confirmed that while it doesn’t have the number of phones out there that Nokia does, it is the world’s leading mobile phone maker when it comes to revenue.

There’s always the future though, right? Nokia CEO Stephen Elop is kicking off his first full year at the helm of the Finnish company that put more mobile phones into hands around the world than anyone else in the past two decades, and the former Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) executive is surely the one who will make Nokia relevant in the smartphone-dominated mobile market.

Or maybe he won’t. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Nokia’s marquee device for 2011, the X7 smartphone that was planned as an AT&T (NYSE:T) exclusive in the U.S., has been cancelled. With the company’s quarterly earnings report coming next Tuesday, and a press conference next month where it’s expected to layout its smartphone strategy, this week was the absolute worst possible time for Nokia to cancel a “tent-pole” product.

What’s left for Nokia to do? Here are three key strategies Nokia needs to embrace in 2011 to regain its mobile momentum.

Subsidize MeeGo App Development

The long-rumored, high-powered Nokia N9 phone may indeed be the reason the X7 was cancelled in the first place. Images of the sliding-screen device said to be built to showcase Nokia’s MeeGo operating system, the OS developed in tandem with Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) in order to take full advantage of that company’s Atom processor. Dropping the Symbian^3 platform is a good start for Nokia, and the positive buzz around MeeGo is promising as well, but slick functionality and power won’t be enough to win the public’s attention. It’s all about apps, and as such, Nokia needs to curry favor with software developers.

The mobile phone maker needs to heavily subsidize software development for MeeGo if Nokia hopes to compete with Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android and Apple. It’ll even need to contend with developers of business apps from focusing on Research In Motion’s (NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry 6 and BlackBerry Tablet OS development. Offer cash to aid developers in porting popular iOS and Android apps, and bonuses for the creation of exclusive content, especially games. A word-of-mouth success like Angry Birds would do Nokia a world of good.

Partner With Google and Microsoft

Nokia needs to take a page from competitors like HTC and Samsung — platform agnosticism is a necessity in the mobile phone manufacturing game for the time being. Apple is crushing the competition, but the tide could turn in the smartphone software wars. However, Nokia’s insistence on sticking with a proprietary operating system is going to continue hurting the company in a major way.

While this doesn’t mean that it should avoid releaseing MeeGo phones, it does mean that Nokia should consider making affordable devices running on Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7. Nokia needs to win on hardware, and familiar software will help them find their audience. Android is a good hook for getting users comfortable on a different brand of handset. Microsoft meanwhile needs all the help it can get to aid Windows Phone 7’s visibility, and a partnership with Nokia, with a presence in European and Asian markets that is still massive, will be a good way to do it.

Make Ovi Apps Multiplatform

Nokia is already fitting its line of Ovi apps and services for a new software platform. If MeeGo is going to replace Symbian^3, obviously Ovi software is ready for cross-platform support. Even if Nokia doesn’t make phones running on Google or Microsoft’s operating systems, it would be a good idea to begin offering Ovi software independently of their platforms. The Ovi Store currently sees around 3 million downloads a day just on Nokia’s handhelds. Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) is currently prepping an app store for Android devices. Nokia has a unique opportunity to be the first app store runner to bring its wares to all platforms. While software for multiple operating systems is a more difficult proposition than bringing digital media and books to disparate platforms, Amazon and Apple have had great success making sure their digital products are available in as many places as possible.

As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.