Under CEO Stephen Elop, Nokia underwent some serious changes that saw Symbian and MeeGo scrapped in favor of Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform. The company has since continued to struggle despite a few signs of life here and there, and it recently admitted defeat as plans to exit the smartphone business with a $7.2 billion sale to Microsoft were announced. According to former top executive and 19-year Nokia vet Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia’s switch to Windows Phone and its strategy over the years that followed were “a complete failure.”
“This is a complete failure of chosen strategy and its implementation,” Vanojki wrote in a note to Verge. “Nokia was not able to make it work. For Finland’s sake I hope Microsoft will.”
The former Nokia smartphone boss said that the sale to Microsoft is “shameful, but unavoidable,” and he certainly doesn’t sound optimistic about the future of the smartphone business that is about to change hands. Vanojki was believed to be among the front-runners for Nokia CEO following former chief Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo’s departure, and he resigned from the company immediately following Elop’s arrival.
