Stephen Elop: the focus of much Nokia shareholder anger

7. Maxwell.R (Posts: 217; Member since: 20 Sep 2012)

They didn't sell the mapping service. They sold rights for Microsoft to use the service for a number of years, guaranteeing revenue for Nokia.

8. tadaa (Posts: 267; Member since: 18 Apr 2013)

they didn't

6. rusticguy (Posts: 2828; Member since: 11 Aug 2012)

Lets see if he calls XBOX a burning Platform :)

10. elitewolverine (Posts: 5192; Member since: 28 Oct 2013)

Because before him Nokia was on such good footing against droid/apple. Without MS, they would be like BB looking for a buyer. MS has saved so many nokia jobs it is not even funny.

19. illiad (Posts: 128; Member since: 07 Feb 2012)

saved so many nokia jobs?? if nokia had got into android, or even just linux, they would be getting **more** staff!!!

a few months later, wonder if MS does some staff trimming.... :/

25. StreetNerd (Posts: 836; Member since: 08 Dec 2010)

if they went the android way they would have become the next HTC, they cant compete with the vertically integrated Samsung business.... Samsung is king

31. Finalflash (Posts: 3448; Member since: 23 Jul 2013)

Right just like Apple is going HTC because they can't compete with the vertically integrated Samsung. If Nokia didn't have to wait 3 years for WP 8 and get stuck with ageing garbage like MS's other WP OSes they could have fought Samsung 1 to 1 with Android and would likely be the equivalent of Apple right now. But no, they let 3 years go before they had a competitive anything and now they're with the same idiots who were too little too late getting into the hardware business too little too late. They will also lose to the vertically integrated Samsung (and even LG/Sony) because guess what hardware components MS makes......NOTHING. Stop making excuses and just watch what remains of Nokia burn. Their Xbox division is still in the red, their hardware (surface) division is still in the red, and now this division is about to get even more red.

34. jedpatrickdatu (Posts: 169; Member since: 24 Jan 2013)

To be fair to Elop, Nokia was already dying rapidly with Symbian before he became CEO.

Also, Apple uses iOS, not Android. iOS is pretty different from Android so that does not put them into direct competition with Samsung. That's what Nokia wanted - a different OS.

If Nokia went Android, they are not likely to win against Samsung, because the name "Samsung" has already become synonymous with Android in the mass market. Have a look at the other Android competitors like Sony and LG - surviving, but not thriving. HTC is even dying despite their high quality phones. Nokia could have had the same fate.

40. MartyK (Posts: 923; Member since: 11 Apr 2012)

Nope, you're wrong,
HTC was the king of andriods, then Samsung came along and listened to what the people wanted, which was hardware and power.

Nokia was known for its hardware and quality, they chose to wait and go with window.. If they would put a android phone and window phone out, which do you think will sell the most?.

33. rusticguy (Posts: 2828; Member since: 11 Aug 2012)

They got bought out in a desperate move as rumour was that they were contemplating moving to Android.

35. Whateverman (Posts: 3284; Member since: 17 May 2009)

But HTC is still alive and kicking. It's their own fault they aren't doing well. Not even Android can save a company that doesn't market itself. Motorola is even doing a better job than HTC right now. Not to mention the lack of support and the hit or miss 4 Ultra Pixel cameras. Nokia would have crushed them all. Well, maybe not Samsung, but they have taken a huge chunk of the pie.

36. microsoftnokiawin (Posts: 1236; Member since: 30 Mar 2012)

in 2011 Samsung wasn't king no one was king and meego would've taken Nokia a long way further than Wp back !

43. nokia12 (Posts: 579; Member since: 19 Nov 2013)

@streetnerd and those saying if nokia went android they would be like htc , please stop this comment it's a lame excuse..

why is htc failing despie creating sturdy hardware ?

because of Pricing and marketing failure .

htc phones are more expensive than samsung counterparts , there are hardly any advertisements . This is their own problem , nokia might look very small to you guys because you are in USA , but come out of it and see other parts of world , the popularity that microsoft and apple as a brand recognition is to you there , nokia was more than that here...
look at n9 despite being released in minor , less quantity, with no support and overpriced price sold more than entire lumia range in 2011 . what does that tell you ? you talk about vertical integration of samsung ? news flash for you samsung was windows oem before nokia was if samsung is also on windows phone then how can you say samsung has advantage ? samsung earlier was also on symbian but nokia still kicked samsung ? the reason is people wanted androdi but since nokia did not have android they went the samsung way because of no choice.. lets say that in any senario even if samsung had beaten nokia , you easily could expect nokia to be no 2 , all places from 2nd spot to 8th spot are held by local chinese players .. they all are making profits .. maybe not as much as samsung but those companies are healthy and look at nokia.. i could go on and on showing you facts

46. Tomfromsouth (Posts: 76; Member since: 02 Apr 2012)

Disagree, Nokia strongest point has been cameras and is such their selling point. They have an advantage over any other Android manufacturer in that aspect. My presumption is people don't buy Nokia specifically for WP (then HTC would be doing just as well as Nokia in the WP division), and rather the selling point is the Nokia brand name they have built for having outstanding cameras (possible amongst others such as maps and music). Would they have done better on Android - difficult to say - but they definitely would've given them an edge HTC don't have. And I own an HTC One X and yes I admit Nokia produces better camera phones.

47. Tomfromsouth (Posts: 76; Member since: 02 Apr 2012)

And one more thing, receiving the golden handshake he got for frankly a poor performance and using personal reasons is not an adequate excuse. How many more jobs and innovation could've been injected into Nokia the $25mill had gone to staff and development. Its bull. If the staff are unhappy then they have every right to direct their anger at him.

49. nokia12 (Posts: 579; Member since: 19 Nov 2013)

yes nokia was already declining when elop took over but the pace was slow and it would have taken 5-6 years at least at that pace to die but with the help of elop he managed to destroy it in 3 years. ok let's remove that point but answer these questions

it was clear nokia needed another OS but why windows phone ?
he said differentiation

how do you differentiate on windows phone ? its too limited almost all look and work the same way , if differentiation was aim android was a clear choice with unlimited possible customisation

2) there were no apps and ecosystem and were not expected to be at least for 2 years it was a new OS

3) are you a pyschic or clairvoyant who knows the future ? then why would you not make a plan B . there is risk it might work and it might not . if it dosen't you agree to give up without even trying ? putting all eggs in 1 basket ? they could have at least tried experimenting with android at least for once to see how market reacts ? look at samsung it is available on android , windows , bada now tizen also they tried with every OS only android worked for them so they stick with it

4) android was more like symbian , and why would you release the famous burning platform memo instead of slowly transitioning . ok it was a leaked memo but still then why would you go on and say no matter how good nokia N9 sells they will not release in major markets ? it sold exceptionally well without any advertisements .. the profits from its success could have been used easily in promoting WP

5) lets say if everything had worked acc to plan and windows phone had become successful then nokia would have paid a lot more to microsoft in royalty than they gave 1 billion per year and keeping microsoft the puppet master of nokia . a partnership is a mutual benefit situation not a slave situation

48. nokia12 (Posts: 579; Member since: 19 Nov 2013)

i agree nokia's strongest selling point was for camera , they have the best cameras but the hate for Windows phone exceeded the desire to have the best camera . People did not wanted to compromise with android so they settled for a good enough camera which samsung and others provided along with their favorite Operating system . In fact People choose nokia only for Brand + camera +quality .. they never choose it for windows phone, also do remember the fact windows phone limitation made nokia overpriced , when android had 1 gb ram nokia was giving 512 mb ram phones, this trait continued till this q4 2013 . not nokia's fault only windows phone fault . only lumia 520 was ahead in hardware specs and it succeeded because it was sold at a loss . just imagine how lumia 520 would have been if it had android . nokia could have easily overtaken samsung

45. taikucing (unregistered)

lol actually there are many Nokia lovers who want Nokia installed with android. My friends bought Samsung not because they love Samsung, but because there are no android devices from Nokia.

13. 14545 (Posts: 1667; Member since: 22 Nov 2011)

Yeah, that should be more clear now than ever before. I think the market cap is 1/4 of what it was before he took over. A company man was all he ever was.

16. SAYED-EJAZ (Posts: 225; Member since: 10 Oct 2013)

Dont complain elop only..who said nokia to make deal with him(microsoft).
Its all nokias fault. If nokia were genious they would opt android before any other oem .!

21. illiad (Posts: 128; Member since: 07 Feb 2012)

its the brainless execs that killed it.. there *were* some good linux phones, but they just dissappeared...

14. 14545 (Posts: 1667; Member since: 22 Nov 2011)

At this point, they didn't have much of a choice. They are so far gone thanks to him that they had to take what they could get.

18. Beijendorf (Posts: 354; Member since: 27 Aug 2013)

Microsoft had already given Nokia a big cash injection of the money included in the deal, and the stock value relied heavily on the deal going through.

They had the option to risk losing their money and possibly never recover it or saying yes.

20. bon24x7 (Posts: 211; Member since: 30 Aug 2012)

hope Nokia will make a comeback in 2016 with Android or Sailfish based phones..?

22. illiad (Posts: 128; Member since: 07 Feb 2012)

I do believe the main part of the 'deal' was nokia will NOT do phones anymore...