Seeing Hope in Torture: Nokia CEO Elop 2012

For Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, 2012 was the most torturous year in his career so far, and his leadership skills, strategic planning and even professional ethics are constantly questioned. Nokia spent the lowest year in the year and gradually saw hope for rebirth.

Ai Ke second?

When he became the first foreign CEO in Nokia's history two years ago, Elop, who was very complacent, would not think that he would become the best CEO of the tech industry and be mocked with former HP CEO Leo Apotheker. When Apotheker has become history, Elop still insists on trying to prove himself and save the former mobile giant Nokia.

The two CEOs of Elop and Li Aike really have many similarities. Both of them are foreign CEOs. Previously, they came from the software field and did not have experience in the hardware industry. Both Hewlett-Packard and Nokia have a long history, both have a glorious history in the global IT industry, have once occupied a pivotal position, and both are in trouble.

The tide of science and technology is changing. Companies that don't follow the trend will get into trouble, but CEOs of other companies will not continue to challenge and dispute like Elop. Since Elop took office, the series of decisions made at Nokia are closely related to his previous work background: He was a Microsoft core executive. Because of this, Elop was considered to be Microsoft's "trojan"; as long as Nokia's performance is low, there will always be people who doubt that Elop is helping Microsoft.

Nokia chose Elop to seek the introduction of U.S. company's execution power and bring vitality to this slow-moving Nordic country. It is also hoped that Elop, who is responsible for the software, leads the company into the era of smart phones and responds to Apple and Google mobile phones. Rapid impact. The most important decision that Elop made for Nokia was to select the Microsoft Windows Phone operating system and give up the Android system that could immediately bring in sales. This was the direct reason why he was later questioned.

Hope to be disappointed

Earlier last year it announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft to launch a series of WP 7 phones by the end of the year. 2012 should be the year that Nokia began to harvest. Elop released the new flagship Lumia 900 at the CES in January, holding a full heart to enter 2012, but did not want to experience the most difficult year. His personal reputation has also fallen to the bottom this year.

This year, Nokia's performance was bleak. Not only did revenue continue to decline, but it caused a huge loss for the sixth consecutive quarter. In the previous fiscal year, Nokia lost a total of US$1.4 billion. In the first three quarters of this year, it had lost nearly US$3 billion. In the case of continuing huge losses, Nokia's cash flow is also facing a risk of shortage. At the end of the third quarter, the cash reserves only left 4.7 billion US dollars. In the current situation, it can only continue to support about six months.

Mobile phone sales are Nokia's lifeline. Elop bet WP mobile phone did not bring the expected return, Lumia series WP mobile phones so far total sales of less than 10 million, the global smartphone share of only 2.8%, while Elop was abandoned in advance of Saipan Mobile phones are also shrinking under the impact of the popularity of smart phones. In the third quarter of this year, Nokia ranked seventh in the world with only 7.2 million smart phones.

In exchange for much-needed cash, the theme of Nokia in 2012 was “sale” and “redundancy”: sale of the New York Tower or even the Finnish headquarters building, sale of smartphone-related patents, sale of the Qt software business and luxury mobile phone brand Vertu, closure of several factories worldwide At the end of next year, there will be 10,000 layoffs worldwide, which will save a total of US$2.1 billion in expenditure.

What makes Elop more embarrassing is that his choice of strategic partner Microsoft is not that good. In the second quarter of this year, Lumia sales just saw improvement, Microsoft announced that the new system WP 8 does not support the existing WP 7 mobile phone, resulting in a significant decline in Lumia sales in the third quarter; HTC and Nokia together to enter the WP 8 market, also got Microsoft's promotion help . The news that Microsoft wants to push its own brand of mobile phones is making Nokia feel pressure.

In the face of external censure, Elop still kept a smile and responded to various direct criticisms: WP 8 does not support WP 7, but the new system is more competitive; HTC pushes WP 8 mobile phones, indicating that the WP system is attractive; Microsoft pushes its own mobile phone to benefit the WP ecosystem. After the release of the third quarter, Elop faced unprecedented doubts.

Rekindling new hope

The new WP 8 product has become the deciding factor of Nokia's fate. Fortunately, Elop saw hope in the darkest moment. Lumia 920's several major technological innovations have won praise from the industry and users. PureView camera function and ultra-sensitive touch screen are the biggest selling points of this phone. With the gradual maturation of the WP 8 system, this outstanding hardware has begun to gain market acceptance.

Lumia 920 was soon sold out in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, and other markets. It ranked second in the US Amazon sales list and became the fourth best seller in AT&T history. It was difficult to obtain a single store in the United States. Even up to 2 weeks. In France, 920 sales even exceed the Apple iPhone 5.

Nokia has played a key role in the pricing of the Lumia 920, a 32GB high-profile flagship handset that is priced at the mid-range price. The price of the US AT&T without a contract machine is only 450 US dollars, and the price of the two-year contract machine is reduced from the original 100 US dollars to 50 US dollars. Compared to the US$ 200 price of the 16GB version of the iPhone 5, the Nokia 920 has an obvious price/performance ratio.

In addition to the boost from the good sales of the high-end handset Lumia 920, Nokia also promoted the mid-range and low-end handset markets through 820 and 620. In addition, Elop is also constantly seeking new ways to help themselves. In Nokia's largest Chinese market, Nokia also launched the TD-SCDMA version of the Lumia 920 in cooperation with China Mobile, China's largest subscriber. With the boost of this initiative, Nokia's share price has obviously risen.

In the map of this Nokia high-quality assets, Elop also opened up a new cross-platform ideas, the new map application Here into Apple and Google mobile phones. In the weak apple map, Nokia maps have been welcomed by iPhone users. Perhaps it is precisely because of the promotion of Nokia's map into the iPhone, Google has just released a map application for the iPhone. In addition to publishing map applications, Nokia also collaborates with companies such as Oracle and Amazon to provide map services to many corporate users and consumers of these two companies. In addition to pure handset sales, Elop sought to use Nokia’s existing resources to secure new revenue opportunities for the company.

Elop has a mild personality and he always smiles even if he suffers the greatest pressure in the industry. He and Nokia's 2012, from full of hope to disappointment and renewed hopes, perhaps this is the year Nokia turned from the bottom. The same is the face of doubt, he may be able to learn from the attitude of the next Jobs.

When Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, he had a user who wrote that he could not rescue Apple. Steve Jobs returned a simple email. "Maybe you are right, but if I succeed in saving the apple, remember to look in the mirror. For me, call yourself a "bastard.""