JormaOllila
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Nokia Chairman Jorma Ollila to step down next year, complete exodus of old guard
Anssi Vanjoki, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Symbian, and Qt are all either already departed or on their way out of Nokia. It's of little surprise, therefore, to hear that the company's Chairman, Jorma Ollila, will soon be following in their footsteps and clocking out of the Espoo office for the final time. Ollila has been a member of Nokia's Board of Directors since 1995 and in his present position since 1999, however the recent change in direction and leadership at the company has clearly made it unfeasible for him to continue as Chairman. He's expected to step down at some point next year, with Nokia now commencing the search for his replacement.
Nokia chairman wanted Vanjoki for CEO, American investors forced him to pick Elop? (update: Nokia says it's false)
We love us some corporate intrigue, and there's some intrigue of the highest order coming out of Finland today: local rag Kauppalehti claims that Nokia chairman Jorma Ollila had wanted the outspoken Anssi Vanjoki to step up, but was instead forced to endorse Microsoft executive Stephen Elop as Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo's successor to lead the embattled company by a team of American investors who demanded a CEO from the left side of the Atlantic. How "forced," exactly? Ollila was allegedly in line to be ousted if he didn't throw his weight behind Elop, which -- as IntoMobile points out -- is a bit odd considering that Ollila himself is leaving next year. All told, something seems fishy here; it's possible that Ollila is simply trying to save face with Finns (and / or Vanjoki himself) as he prepares to leave Nokia... or it's possible that hordes of vicious Americans with skin in the game collectively tightened the vice grips. Either way, Elop seems to be cleaning house in light of the Symbian move, so it'll be interesting to see whether he can steer the ship back on course here in 2011. Update: We've just received a statement from a Nokia spokesperson that basically calls the story a total fabrication: "The story is totally unfounded speculation. There were three candidates for Nokia CEO position in the final selection and Stephen was chosen on merit without any external interference. We are very disappointed that this story was published just prior to the financial results." So there you have it -- three candidates, Elop won, so says Nokia.
Nokia 'combining services with devices,' says the board approves
Late last month, rumors began to swirl that Nokia's fearless leader may be closer than ever to grabbing hold of his golden parachute, and with the frustrations surrounding the company's inability to keep pace with other smartphone producers, it's certainly a believable whisper. Today, those sharks are still looking for answers, and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo attempted to give some during today's address to shareholders. One choice quote came right off the top, with OPK stating the following: "By combining services with devices, Nokia is in a stronger position to grow and create more value for our shareholders. We still have plenty of work to do, but we have built a solid foundation. We believe in our strategy." He then went on to list some of the many, many fruitful things that the company has delivered over the past few months (sadly not elaborating on the business shift), noting that Ovi Mail now has eight million registered users, Life Tools would be headed to China "soon," and that his company shipped some 432 million devices globally last year -- more than its top three rivals combined. Of course, it's not the sum that investors are worried about, it's the apparent inability to seriously chase the Apples, HTCs, LGs and Samsungs of the world in the smartphone space. To that end, Kallasvuo asserted that in 2010, the company will "introduce a new generation of devices that is expected to help close the gap with the competition in high-end smartphones," and he continued by claiming that Nokia's approach "has been to concentrate on fewer, competitive products that bring the features of Symbian-based smartphones to more and more people around the world." The head-honcho certainly understands the rough position his outfit is in, confessing that Nokia is "working hard to reclaim leadership in high-end smartphones and mobile computers," and also informing the world that the company's next "mobile computer" will be humming along on MeeGo. Best of luck out there, OPK -- it's certainly going to take more than a snazzy Symbian^3 marketing campaign to regain the attention of these Android and iPhone OS loyalists. Update: The full speech has now been posted [PDF], and unfortunately, there really aren't any juicy tidbits to extract. Typical corporate speak from top to bottom.
