Ballmer confirms Elop is a candidate for Microsoft CEO

It wasn’t exactly a well-kept secret but it’s still interesting to hear outgoing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer confirm that Nokia chief Stephen Elop is a candidate to take his place. In an interview with The Seattle Times, Ballmer said that now that Microsoft has agreed to acquire Nokia for $7.2 billion, Elop will go from being “an external to internal” candidate to replace Ballmer as CEO. Oddsmakers have projected that Elop is the most likely person to become Microsoft’s next CEO and it seems his odds have only increased now that Microsoft has bought out his company. The Verge is also reporting that Microsoft wants to use the Nokia acquisition to triple Windows Phone’s market share over the next five years, so it seems that the company knows that it has to do a lot better in mobile if it wants to stay relevant in the consumer electronics space.