Over a month ago we briefly examined the continuing problems Nokia NOK1V, the world’s largest phone manufacturer, has found itself  facing with the explosive growth of the smartphone market.  Nokia unlike Apple and even Motorola, HTC, Samsung etc. has been a true laggard in this marketplace.  With this growing competition in the smartphone marketplace Nokia’s share price has declined a whopping 67% in the three years since Apple introduced the iPhone (according to an article in Bloomberg).  For some time some shareholders and analysts have been calling for the CEO, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo’s head.  The CEO has recognized the problems facing Nokia and recently has made some internal management changes to address the issues.  Time is running out as shareholder and now possibly board member patience is dissolving.  It is hard to see at this point in time as the iPhone4, Google Android phones, Blackberries and other sophisticated smartphones are coming into the marketplace what Nokia can do to reverse its problems.  Nokia needs a big winner and it needs it soon.

Fair or not it, looks as if Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo’s time as CEO may be limited.  It may be the right time for the Finnish based firm to hire a seasoned CEO from outside the firm.

For more:

Business Insider

This entry was posted on Friday, July 16th, 2010 at 10:55 am and is filed under Liberum Management Change. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.