Newsmaker: Nokia's Elop eyes Microsoft

window of opportunity
(Reuters) - Stephen Elop must know better than anyone exactly
what Nokia is letting itself in for by jumping into the eager arms of
Microsoft.
Nokia's new chief executive, who this week described the world's largest cellphone maker as a
"burning platform," has turned to his former employer for a deal to use Windows Phone as the
software platform for Nokia's smartphones.
So it was friends reunited when Elop shared the spotlight on Friday with former boss and
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to explain how the two giants have teamed up to take on Google
and Apple in fast-growing smartphones.
But behind the smiles and handshakes for the cameras, Elop faces a bitter battle, not only with
Nokia's competitors but for the very heart and mind of the company itself.
"I'm here to fight," Elop told investors at the briefing.
Elop was drafted in from Microsoft in September to halt Nokia's decline. As president of
Microsoft's Business Division and a member of its team responsible for overall strategy, he was
hired for his software know-how.
The 47-year-old Canadian became the first non-Finn to head Nokia in its 145-year history, a sign
of how desperately Nokia needs to transform itself to claim back market share and the innovative
edge it has lost to Apple and other rivals.
Elop has impressive Silicon Valley credentials, and much of his experience should stand him in
good stead at Nokia. But the Microsoft deal means that he will now have to turn his attention to
the hardware Nokia produces rather than the programing that has become so crucial to the
success of smartphones.
After graduating in computer engineering and management from Canada's McMaster University,
he had a spell as chief information officer of restaurant chain Boston Chicken.
Elop got back on track with seven years at Macromedia. The San Francisco-based software
house produced Web design tools beloved of Apple developers. Macromedia made the Flash
video software that powered the rise of YouTube, and Dreamweaver, widely used to build
websites.
It successfully pushed to get Flash into mobile devices, winning over every handset maker and
service provider including Nokia. Adobe bought Macromedia for $3.4 billion in 2005.
When it was plain he was not going to become the next Adobe CEO, Elop wasted little time in
moving to Juniper Networks as COO, and then on to Microsoft to run its business division -- a
$19 billion operation that includes Microsoft's Office software and is the largest of the company's
five divisions.
While Elop did not develop a public profile there, Ballmer has praised him as a solid leader
during the recession.
Importantly, he helped steer the company toward online versions of programs such as Word,
Outlook and Excel, which users could access from anywhere, including mobile devices.

That was a tough transition for Microsoft, whose fortune is founded on software installed on
desktop computers. The company announced a tie-up with Nokia a year ago as part of this drive
 Looking at a change of Strategy at Nokia
Looking to rejuvenate its overall business, Nokia on Friday unveiled a slew of strategic
initiatives including partnership with Microsoft and an organisational rejig.

The changes at the world’s largest mobilephone maker under its chief Stephen Elpo would
also see revamp in executive leadership at various operations.

“Nokia is at a critical juncture where significant change is necessary and inevitable in our
journey forward. Today, we are accelerating that change through a new path, aimed at
regaining our smartphone leadership, reinforcing our mobile device platform and realising
our investments in the future,” Nokia President and CEO Stephen Elop said in a statement.

With these moves, Nokia hopes to strengthen its business position amid rising competition
from major rivals such as Apple and Google.

Windows Phone as main platform

Nokia would forge a “strategic partnership” with Microsoft, whereby the Finnish entity
would make Windows Phone as its primary smartphone platform.

With this step, Nokia’s own Symbian operating system would become a franchise platform.

The Finnish firm noted that it expects to sell about 150 million more Symbian devices in the
years to come. Further, the company’s MeeGo would become an “open-source, mobile
operating system project".

Meanwhile, from April 1, Nokia would have a new company structure with two distinct
business units — Smart Devices and Mobile Phones.

These units would focus on high-end smartphones and mass-market mobile phones.

“Each unit will have profit-and-loss responsibility and end-to-end accountability for the full
consumer experience, including product development, product management and product
marketing,” the statement noted.

Smart Devices unit, responsible for smartphones, would be led by Jo Harlow. Further,
Symbian Smartphones, MeeGo Computers and Strategic Business Operations would come
under the new division.

Markets unit would be responsible for selling products, sourcing, customer care,
manufacturing, IT and logistics among others. This division would be helmed by Niklas
Savander