Stephen Elop was in South Africa and Businessday.co.za reports Elop had been reflecting on the situation since last year.
He apparently said that Nokia were no longer on that infamous burning platform. Where are we? Are we in limbo? Supposedly Nokia’s future is now more secure after those tough decisions were made. Elop talks about the change in shift from the Old Nokia guard focused simply on market share:
“The previous leadership of Nokia was so focused on their massive global market share, and so strong at the bottom of the pyramid, that they didn’t see it crumbling from the top”
On the memo:
“I sat down to write the memo as a call for action and, a year later, everyone in the company says Nokia is changing”
Nokia certainly is changing. Whether that is for the better is quite controversial. What we do know is that the same media and blogs that used to shun and sneer at Nokia products are certainly now awarding them with praise. Slowly but surely, great products might turn Nokia around again.
I tried to find another source about this story and found a much longer article with Elop.
Elop accepts this will not be an easy task. But as mentioned, it is possible for Nokia to reverse the trend on their declining mindshare as long as they can consistently produce great products. There has been quite some excellent feedback so far on Nokia’s new smartphones.
Is it a hard battle? Do we have to re-establish the brand and win the hearts and minds? Of course. We’re going to be establishing the beachhead – that’s a word I’ve been using a lot lately – and clawing our way forward and that’s okay, that’s the challenge. But with great products, and a good strategy, we’re going to make some progress
Whilst we’re on the subject of Stephen Elop, I do remember noticing a couple of videos a few days ago. This one from ABN Digital, “Africa’s Leading Online Platform in Business, Economic and Stock Market News”
by ABNDigital
Different interview from last week in Nairobi. When asked about the future of Symbian in the next 2-3 years, he talked about the new version of Symbian being introduced (Belle). He says, “That’s the pattern you should expect to see, there are still NEW DEVICES AND OPERATING SYSTEM UPGRADES AHEAD”. Ooh, Nokia Carla and Nokia Donna. Elop is not talking about Symbian OS updates being Belle, he says that is the pattern we should expect to see (more of essentially). So more to come after Belle. And I don’t think he’s talking about OS updates for WP because he separates the WP answer in the video.
Nokia Lumia is expected in Kenya in the months and quarters ahead. Nokia does have a staggered approach, which like the video of Elop in the middle east, means that only when the full Lumia experience (Language support, marketplace) is available will it be launched.
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