Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) CEO Elop Says That Their First Windows Phones Should Have Done Better

Since CEO of Nokia Corporation (ADR)(NYSE:NOK) Stephen Elop has placed his big bet on Windows Phone a year and a half ago, things have not gone according to the plan.

The firm’s Symbian business tailed off faster than predicted. Its business in basic phones has stumbled and the first row of Windows Phones has failed to take off in the way it was expected.

Elop said that he expected the first Lumia phones to have done better. He said that the Lumia products are solid and the firm is not changing its course as it still believes it can build a robust business making phones that are based on Microsoft’s operating system.

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Elop said in an interview that the firm needs to be able to stand up and declare that is fundamentally better and different from others. Even in hindsight, Elop mentioned that betting on Android would not give the firm the space it requires to stand apart from the crowd.

The move to Windows Phone had its own set of challenges. The Mango version of the OS and the features it offers were established by the time Nokia had committed itself to windows Phone and started making Lumia phones. For this reason, the company did not get a chance to stand out from other Windows Phone, radically.

Another problem, according to Elop, was that the company did not do a commendable job by telling its story at retail, especially in Europe, where the firm basically released the Lumia 800 and made it available without focusing much on particular carriers or regions.

Elop acknowledges the fact that it has been challenging to deal with his former employer as it is not uncommon for top executives of two companies to be exchanging texts with problems.

Elop is not disappointed with Microsoft’s approach of building Surface smartphones as Nokia is apparently not looking to be anyone’s ‘white box’ maker.