14 DAY TRIAL // If you thought that the adoption of Windows Phone as the main operating system for Nokia's smartphones was the only novelty of the day regarding the Finnish handset vendor, you were wrong. The company has many other changes in store for users, and has already outlined many of them.
The company is adopting a new strategic direction, which include changes in leadership and operational structure, aimed at resulting in an accelerated speed of execution in the dynamic competitive environment it faces today.
The main announcements the company made today include:
- Plans for a broad strategic partnership with Microsoft to build a new global mobile ecosystem; Windows Phone would serve as Nokia's primary smartphone platform. - A renewed approach to capture volume and value growth to connect "the next billion" to the Internet in developing growth markets - Focused investments in next-generation disruptive technologies - A new leadership team and organizational structure with a clear focus on speed, results and accountability
Following the new partnership with Microsoft, Symbian becomes a franchise platform, though the company aims at selling a number of 150 million more Symbian devices during the following years.
Nokia also announced that the MeeGo platform becomes an open-source, mobile operating system project, and that it still aims at launching a device powered by the platform during the ongoing year.
The company will also focus on the release of feature phones, as part of its strategy to connect the next billion people to their first Internet and application experience.
Starting with April 1, Nokia will have a new company structure, with two distinct business units, namely Smart Devices and Mobile Phones, which will focus both on the high-end smartphone market, as well as on the mass-market mobile phones.
“Each unit will have profit-and-loss responsibility and end-to-end accountability for the full consumer experience, including product development, product management and product marketing,” the company announced.
The Smart Devices unit (which would encompass the Symbian Smartphones, MeeGo Computers and Strategic Business Operations) will be led by Jo Harlow, while the Mobile Phones unit will be led by Mary McDowell.
“Nokia is at a critical juncture, where significant change is necessary and inevitable in our journey forward,” said Stephen Elop, Nokia President and CEO.
“Today, we are accelerating that change through a new path, aimed at regaining our smartphone leadership, reinforcing our mobile device platform and realizing our investments in the future.”