Elop plans major executive ‘shakeup’ at Nokia

7 Feb 2011

In a move calculated to arrest Nokia’s decline, its new CEO Stephen Elop is planning a major shakeup of Nokia’s executive board ahead of a crucial tie-up with Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 on future devices.

Last week, Nokia’s shares took a pummelling in the wake of analysts urging Nokia to abandon its own Linux-based operating system MeeGo and sign an exclusive deal linking Nokia devices to Windows Phone 7.

However, share performance began to improve as rumours of the tie-up with Microsoft began to gain momentum.

Ex-Microsoft executive Elop is preparing a major shakeup of the company’s board and plans to recruit a new head of R&D.

A deal with Microsoft is expected to be announced this week.

Elop’s shakeup will be announced to company executives on Thursday.

Nokia’s fading fortunes

Nokia is still the world’s biggest mobile manufacturer and in 2010 spent US$4bn on R&D – three times the industry average.

However, although it has a 35pc share of the global mobile device industry, the growing dominance of Google’s Android operating system, as well as the sustained success of the iPhone in the crucial smartphone space, are a cause for concern.

For example, in North America, Nokia’s smartphones are practically non-existent at just 2pc with Android and iPhone devices appearing everywhere.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com