After my Hotviews post - Microsoft buys Nokia Mobile– yesterday, our views have been widely quoted in media across the world.
Murad Ahmed from The Times called whilst he was researching for his article on Stephen Elop – the CEO of Nokia and, after the takeover, the new Head of Devices & Services at Microsoft. See Window into the world of a corporate outsider.
Murad’s article ends:
Yesterday, [Steve Ballmer] confirmed that Mr Elop will be considered as a possible successor, saying “Stephen will go from external [candidate] to internal”.
Mr Elop’s rise has astonished many commentators. “I am flabbergasted,” said Richard Holway, chairman of TechMarketView, the analysts. “I cannot see how someone who failed to turn around Nokia can be recruited by Microsoft’s board to turn around a company that has many of the same issues and problems.”
I could have added that Nokia's share price has halved during Elop's 3 years as CEO. I could have added that other observers have described Elop's decision to go with Microsoft rather than Google's Android as'the worst management decision of all time" (Bit OTT, but you get the drift!)
Many readers had already suggested that I take precautions against a revenge attack from Ballmer’s henchmen. Well, I had suggested for many years that he was ‘past his sell by date’. Maybe I should now beware of Elop’s henchmen too!