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An exec recounts the moment Nokia’s burning platform scorched MeeGo

Updated Dec 19th, 2018 7:17PM EST
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Bloomberg’s

new cover story, titled “Stephen Elop’s Nokia Adventure,” takes an in depth look at Nokia, its CEO and its “epic fail.” Peppered with great moments, one in particular caught our attention: following the elimination of Symbian, Nokia was left with MeeGo as its smartphone platform of the future. Chief Development Officer Kai Oistämö had concerns about the platform, and after voicing them to Elop, the pair decided to reevaluate the company’s path. Elop mapped out several things on a whiteboard — products in development, projected launch dates, OS bugs and so on. After stepping back and realizing that the company might only launch three new MeeGo devices before 2014, Elop and Oistämö had the chat that would change Nokia forever. “It was truly an oh-s–t moment—and really, really painful to realize where we were,” Oistämö told Bloomberg. “MeeGo had been the collective hope of the company, and we’d come to the conclusion that the emperor had no clothes. It’s not a nice thing.”

Thanks John

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Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.