Former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop Denies Being A Microsoft ‘Trojan’

Former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, now executive vice president of the newly-formed Microsoft Devices group, says the Finnish manufacturer opted for Windows Phone over Android because it feared Google’s operating system would have put it on a “collision course” with Samsung.

In an ‘ask me anything’ session on Nokia’s website, Elop denied he was a ‘Trojan Horse’ sent to closely align the Finnish manufacturer with Microsoft ahead of its £4.6 billion takeover of Nokia’s handset business, which was completed last week, adding that he felt the decision to adopt Windows Phone in February 11 had been vindicated by how the market had developed since then.

“When we made the decision to focus on Windows Phone back in 2011, we were very concerned that a decision to pursue Android would put us on a collision course with Samsung, who already had established a head of steam around Android,” he said. “That was the right decision, as we have seen virtually all other OEMs from those days pushed to the side.”

Android and MeeGo

Nokia has since launched the Nokia X, a mid-range smartphone that uses a forked version of Android in an effort to increase the spread of Microsoft’s services such as Outlook.com and Skype, but it is still committed to using Windows Phone for its premium Lumia smartphones.

Many believe that Nokia might have been better off using Android for all of its devices, but others are still incensed that the company abandoned many of its own projects, such as MeeGo, with one respondent accusing Elop of being the man who “killed” Nokia.

“I know that there is a lot of emotion around some of the hard decisions that we had to make. Back in late 2010 and 2011, we carefully assessed the state of the internal Nokia operating system efforts,” he explained. “Unfortunately, we could not see a way that Symbian could be brought to a competitive level with, for example, the iPhone that had shipped THREE years earlier!

“And the MeeGo effort was significantly delayed and did not have the promise of a broad enough portfolio soon enough. We had to make a forceful decision to give Nokia the chance to compete again.”

I was not a Trojan

Elop said he and his team brought a sense of “urgency” to the company that had been lacking and is confident that their actions mean that the future of both Nokia and the Microsoft-owned Devices & Services unit.

“We have transformed Nokia into a stronger company with NSN, HERE and Advanced Technologies,” he declared. At the same time, our Devices and Services business has a new opportunity within a stronger Microsoft. As for the Trojan horse thing, i have only ever worked on behalf of and for the benefit of Nokia shareholders while at Nokia. Additionally, all fundamental business and strategy decisions were made with the support and approval of the Nokia board of directors, of which I was a member.”

There has been speculation that Nokia’s handset unit could be renamed ‘Microsoft Mobile’, however while Elop confirmed the Nokia name would be phased out, he could not say what branding would be used.

“Microsoft Mobile Oy is a legal construct that was created to facilitate the merger,” he said. “It is not a brand that will be seen by consumers. The Nokia brand is available to Microsoft to use for its mobile phones products for a period of time, but Nokia as a brand will not be used for long going forward for smartphones. Work is underway to select the go forward smartphone brand.”

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