Microsoft Strategist Replaces Nokia CEO

Days before the Nokia World event in London next week, Nokia chief Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo has been ousted and will be replaced by the current head of Microsoft’s business division Stephen Elop. Nokia’s flagship N8 phone will also miss the show, as it will not be available to customers until the end of September.

Elop is part of Microsoft’s senior management team that is responsible for group strategy. His appointment is seen as beefing up Nokia’s board to tackle the US market and reinvigorate its product lines. Despite being the world’s largest supplier of smartphones, the company’s phones have met with strong resistance in the lucrative US market.

New Blood For New Markets

Kallasvuo has held the chief executive role for four of his 30 years at the Finnish mobile phone company but Nokia’s share price has been tumbling. This has raised investor unrest and has probably played a large part in his departure. Kallasvuo will retain his non-executive board membership at Nokia Siemens Networks, the group’s wireless equipment joint venture.

Increased competition from Apple’s mobile product range, Google’s flock of Android disciples and RIM BlackBerry’s hold on corporate America has not helped Kallasvuo’s positon. The swashbuckling cut and thrust of the smartphone market has made the sober marketing of Nokia look even less attractive.

The decision to poach Elop away from Microsoft will bring with it some American marketing expertise, though Microsoft’s record in the mobile device world is less than stellar.

“I am in two minds about this news,” said Gartner distinguished analyst Nick Jones. “Microsoft has many of the same problems as Nokia in terms of innovation, especially in the smartphone business. Steve Elop is an American, which the investors will like, but I’m not sure he brings any specific skills that will fix Nokia’s challenges.

“Although, having an ex-Microsoft person running Nokia suggests lots of interesting possibilities for the future. Nokia plus Microsoft allying to fight Google and Apple? Now there’s a thought – and I stress it’s a thought, not a Gartner prediction.”

In the world of Gartner predictions, the company has released a report today on the worldwide mobile operating system (OS) market. The news for Nokia is good in that the report states that Symbian will continue as the top selling OS through to 2014. The sting in the tail is that Android will be almost equal and the two OSs will account for 59.8 per cent of mobile sales.

What the report does not seem to take into account is what will happen if Nokia abandons its support for Symbian. The N8 was said to be the last Nokia smartphone to use Symbian and the arrival of an ex-Microsoft employee could end the relationship forever.

The new appointment at Nokia could further influence Gartner’s prediction if it results in the shake-up that usually follows a change at the top. The immediate question is who will take Kallasvuo’s place to deliver the keynote at Nokia World in London.