In Company-Wide Memo CEO Admits Android, iOS Beating Out Nokia, Change is Needed

• Kevin Krause
• 14 years ago

Today Nokia CEO and former Microsoft exec Stephen Elop sent out a company-wide memo on the current state of the brand and its future. In the rather long memo (you can read a full version by following the source link at the bottom), Elop calls Nokia “years behind” Android and iOS, and points to the ecosystems those platforms have developed as the reason for their success. He pines that Nokia got too caught up in their own ventures and missed the boat, especially in newer markets.

He put it pretty simply:

“Our competitors aren’t taking our market share with devices; they are taking our market share with an entire ecosystem. This means we’re going to have to decide how we either build, catalyse or join an ecosystem.”

Those last three words up there have to get Android users that find themselves fans of Nokia’s hardware salivating a bit. But all recent rumors point to Windows Phone 7 as the ecosystem Nokia will most likely join. You will notice there is no mention of WP7 in the memo, which could be read as a sign that Elop doesn’t want to frame a new ally as a direct competitor. It could also be that WP7 was left out simply because it isn’t much of a competitor at this point.

Adding to the fire, the company is apparently killing off its first MeeGo device before it even launches, signaling some sort of significant change in their smartphone endeavors is on the horizon. Until Nokia comes clean this Friday at a press event detailing their future plans we won’t know for sure, but for the next couple days we can hope and dream of a world full of Nokia Androids.

[via AllThingsD]