elop

All is rosy between the two chaps at the Lumia 920 announcement

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop appeared to welcome the idea of Microsoft creating its own Windows Phone in an investor call today. Elop has previously declined to acknowledge or confirm such a project was underway at Redmond, but we later covered news that Microsoft does indeed have its own Windows Phone in the works.

Everybody gets down to the groove with Elop

Nokia's Stephen Elop is as committed as ever to the Windows Phone path he began to lead the company down last year, according to a report by AllThingsD. As Symbian gradually closed its eyes in the pit of smartphone doom, Elop shifted Nokia's focus to Windows Phone. This move gave consumers the first generation Lumia family. Recently the company unveiled the Lumia 820 and Lumia 920 that will both be running Windows Phone 8.

While we're all eagerly awaiting to see what Nokia will bring to consumers in terms of Windows Phone 8 hardware, we've got word that CEO Stephen Elop will be delivering a keynote speech next year at Mobile World Congress. This will be the next step for the Finnish manufacturer -after the holiday season- to really step up its game and continue to produce innovative Windows Phones.

Nokia's stock is on the rebound

We don’t normally cover too much when it comes to company stock but Nokia was an interesting case only because it dropped so low in the last few months. In fact, it dropped to its lowest price ($1.63) in 15 years and made some investors edgy—after all, if you go too low the company becomes financially meaningless and can get de-listed.

Nokia though was always a mixed bag with analysts noting that Windows Phone 8 could be its savior because the company can be unleashed with limitations on hardware lifted. Combined with the drastic cuts in the company, which unfortunately translates into layoffs, investors are now coming around....

Windows Phone Central and Stephen Elop at Nokia World 2011

Just when you thought the situation couldn't get any better for Nokia, or CEO Stephen Elop, some positive news has come out the HQ with Risto Siilasmaa, Nokia's recently appointed chairman, reaffirming faith in the Windows Phone strategy. The chairman also backed Elop's performance thus far.

"For the first time in the history of technology, the Windows Phone 8 operating system makes it possible for users to have the same experience on a PC, tablet or smartphone, and for many people on their televisions via their gaming consoles, and to do the same thing almost seamlessly from one screen to the next."

The switch of focus from the dwindling Symbian to Microsoft's new vision of the smartphone has been continuously questioned, but with the brand development the manufacturer has carried out with the Lumia line of Windows Phones, the future is looking at least slightly more bright. Siilasmaa commented on Elop's performance:

"Extremely analytical, critical, open and transparent."

Many would agree. What do you make of the performance of Nokia's CEO with the transition to Windows Phone?

Source: MarketWatch

On April 19, Nokia is expected to release their Q1 results.  As a precursor, they put out some initial figures, showing that despite relatively strong sales, their profits continue to shrink.  Nokia totaled €4.2 billion in phone sales, the bulk of which consisted of 71 million feature phones, Nokia's one-time bread and butter, bringing in around €2.3 billion.  Smart devices earned them about €1.7 billion.  And even though these seem like pretty big numbers, they are not enough to cover the cost of moving over to the Windows Phone platform in an attempt to gain a foothold in the smartphone arena.  The expected result is a first quarter finish 3 percent below the break-even mark. 

But this doesn't mean all doom and gloom for Nokia.  Sales of Nokia's Lumia line of phones has been solid and continue to increase.  The Lumia 900 has gotten off to a quick start and doesn't show any signs of slowing yet.  And neither does Nokia CEO, Stephen Elop.  He says that he and his crew continue "to increase the clock speed of the company" and that "the change is tangible."  Considering that they scrapped their previous operating system in favor of Microsoft's just under a year ago, and that their first devices just hit the market last quarter, it's hard to call a 3 percent loss a failure.

Read the presser after the break.

Source: Nokia

During the latest keynote speech at Mobile World Congress, HTC's Peter Chou and Nokia's Stephen Elop had a few fun moments taking shots at each during their talks and later during the question and answer session.  In what was probably the most exciting thing to happen here since Nokia announced a 41MP camera, the two (who insist they are friends and on good terms) clearly have some tension as both compete for market share and the minds of consumers.

One area that was addressed not once but twice was Nokia's 41MP camera versus HTC's 16MP on the Titan II announced last month. Elop started first by retelling the story of Chou announcing the phone back at CES and realizing they had to break out their 41MP camera sooner than later in order to steal back the focus on camera optics. Later, Chou told a similar story of how he asked Elop what he thought about the Titan II's camera and reportedly Elop was "silent" on the matter, clearly flustered. This worried Chou that Nokia were going to hit and hit back hard (indeed they did). What made that moment extremely entertaining though was when Chou insisted on telling his version of the CES story, Elop asked if he could snap Chou's picture (with the Pure View) while doing so--clearly a fun jest and the crowd reacted appropriately with roars of laughter. Point, Nokia.

Later, Chou was asked by the moderator what he thought when Nokia reported a $250 million payment from Microsoft, clearly part of the two's partnership. Chou was fairly diplomatic on the issue saying that he thought Nokia would be help lift everyone in regards to Windows Phone but obviously the payment must have slightly perturbed him, being a Microsoft partner for over 15 years.

Chou was also modest on the chances of Windows Phone success. He thinks there's nothing wrong with the OS and it's a great system but it seemed clear from his responses that he thought Android and iOS would clearly dominate for the foreseeable future. Though he did report that their Windows Phone customsers had extremely high satisfaction ratings for their phones with very few returns, something we've reported on before.

Interestingly, both Chou and Elop agreed that the 16MP versus 41MP competition is really misguided and focused too much on specs versus the customer experience, something both companies are concerned with (Elop more so as he "hopes it's not a spec war").

All in all, watching the two smartphone heavy weights discuss the pros and cons of Windows Phone was exciting both for the tension and humorous jousting between the two companies.

On CNET, Roger Chen has written an article pointing at Nokia and Stephen Elop regarding the U.S. market and how the manufacturer should step up their game. He went into talk about customisation, carriers, handsets and more with how Nokia has failed in the past with global products being stocked by all carriers.

"One of the biggest mistakes Nokia made in the past was to stick with its strategy of building one global device and forcing it onto every carrier in the world, with only minor adjustments to the radio and frequency. From a business perspective it made a lot of sense, allowing it to generate massive economies of scale and, accordingly, higher profit margins. Among smaller carriers around the world, that works just fine."

Chen finished the post with the question, "Are you game?" Elop has since published a tweet stating, "Roger, we're game." It would seem as though the handset maker is set to not only create a successful marketing campaign in Europe, but in the U.S. at some point too.

Via: AllAboutWindowsPhone; Thanks, aubreyq, for the heads up!

Yesterday, Nokia's CEO Stephen Elop sat down with Walt Mossberg at the D9 Conference to discuss everything from the fate of Symbian to the company's future with Windows Phone. While a good bit of the interview was a re-hash of what we already know and Elop voicing his support for Windows Phone, a few interesting tidbits did come out of the interview. Including a vague exchange on where Nokia's initial Windows Phone launch will take place

Elop commented on the key role developers are playing with the success of Windows Phones, reiterated the partnership goals with Microsoft, and again, refuted the rumors Microsoft was negotiating to buy Nokia. Elop also attributed Nokia's lack of presence in the U.S., in part, was due to the popularity of the flip phone. A form factor Nokia didn't see as important. But what might be the most interesting portion of the interview came when Elop was questioned on Nokia's Windows Phone launch.

Elop commented that Nokia is still scheduled to hit the market during the 4th Quarter, in time for the holidays. The interesting thing about this segment of the interview is that Elop wouldn't commit as to which markets will be involved.

When asked if this would be a Global launch, a U.S. launch or both, Elop replied, "A number of variables will control that."

When asked if the U.S. would be a part of the launch, Elop replied, "We are still working on what countries, in what order and variance will be involved."

When pressed further on this issue, Elop simply stated he wouldn't comment on any details before he was ready to comment on them.  While very positively animated during the interview, this was the only time Elop seemed to get a little nervous.

Could Nokia give the U.S. Market the cold shoulder and continue to focus on the global markets with their Windows Phones? Or is it a case where the details on a U.S. launch aren't ironed out enough where Elop was comfortable enough to comment on things?

After the break, catch the video highlights of the interview.

Source: AllThingsDigital