“The move comes as the current chief executive, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, struggles to find traction for the company in the market for high-end smartphones,” Lublin and Sheth report. “While Nokia continues to sell more cellphones than any other manufacturer, it has failed to keep up with advances by such rivals as Apple Inc.”
“The Espoo, Finland, company’s failure to get back in the race has taken a toll,” Lublin and Sheth report. “Its stock rose eight cents to $8.82 in 4 p.m. New York Stock Exchange trading Monday but is off nearly 42% since April 19.”
“The CEO of a major U.S. high-tech company recently spurned Nokia’s approach after meeting with Chairman Jorma Ollila, because the candidate wasn’t interested in moving to Finland, this person said,” Lublin and Sheth report. “Nokia also has flown in at least one other U.S. based executive to interview for the CEO job, the person said.”
Lublin and Sheth report, “Mr. Kallasvuo has held the CEO job since 2006, the year before Apple introduced the iPhone and roiled the market for mobile phones. The company has stumbled several times in its efforts to catch up.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hey, Olli, before they yank the ripcord on your golden parachute, why not pledge one more smartphone assault on Apple for old time’s sake?
• Even with the Mac, Apple has attracted much attention at first, but they have still remained a niche manufacturer. That will be in mobile phones as well. – Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia’s chief strategist, November 30, 2009
Verilöyly.