Is Nokia in Crisis? According to the boss, they are.

Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia, has sent a blunt but honest memo to his staff suggesting that the once mobile market leader is now in crisis.

In particular, he feels that the firm was caught off guard by the success of Google's Android operating system and Apple's iPhone.  Despite the first iPhone being shipped back in 2007, he states that Nokia “still don't have a product that is close to their [Apple’s] experience”.

As a result he describes the company as standing on a "burning platform" surrounded by innovative competitors who are grabbing its market share. Although Nokia leads the global smartphone market in terms of handset sales, its overall share has been gradually declining.  According to research firm IDC, Nokia’s shares fell 10% between 2009 and 2010.

Mr Elop's leaked memo also suggests that Nokia is also being squeezed at the lower, non-smartphone end of the market by Chinese manufacturers because they are produced quickly and cheaply.  

Windows Phone 7 is here!

Two years since they launched their first smartphone carrying Google’s Android mobile phone software, HTC have unveiled five new handsets with Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7 operating system. By late October these phones should be available in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific.

Up until now the company has failed to provide a credible challenge to rival operating systems from Apple, Google, Research in Motion and Nokia. They have faced criticism due to previous operating systems having limited functionality and lack of applications.


Microsoft says it has rebuilt the user interface from the bottom up, making Windows Phone 7 more user-friendly. Having placed massive importance on the success of this platform, this could well decide their future position in the smartphone market.


"If it fails to claw back market share lost to iPhone and Android, then Windows Phone 7 may well mark the point at which Microsoft turns its back on smartphones forever" said Tony Cripps of technology consultants Ovum.

Nokia loses 2 executives in a week!

Anssi Vanjoki only started with Nokia in July 2010, but only two months later he has already handed in his notice. That is the second high-profile executive to quit the Mobile phone giant in the space of a week.

Last Friday Microsoft’s Stephen Elop was appointed as the firms new chief executive. He is the first non-Finn to head Nokia.


On his first day in the job Mr. Vanjoki seemed determined to lead Nokia’s fightback against the companies biggest smartphone competitors. Despite being the world's biggest smartphone seller, Nokia has been losing the publicity battle with Google's Android operating system and Apple's iPhone.


He will now serve his six months notice. The announcements come ahead of Nokia World, the firm's annual conference, which begins on the 14 September in London.