Nokia CEO Admits That He May Be Headed Out After Terrible Q2
Where this is smoke, there is fire, right? That's the old saying, and it's not still being said for no particular reason. Nokia as a whole has been struggling to keep pace over the past few years, mostly due to an inability to release a "hero level" smartphone to compete with the iPhone and various other Android phones. But they're also struggling to keep sales up in general, and struggling to keep selling prices as high as they have been. A mountain of related issues have led the company to report an underwhelming quarterly earnings, with Q2 profits sinking an incredible 40% year-over-year. And that's compared to 2009, which was the peak of the recession.
But it's no shock to hear that Nokia's profits are plunging. The company hasn't produced a compelling smartphone in over a year, and in the North American market, smartphones are what sell. Of course, Nokia is still making money without issue, and plenty of it by some estimates, but whenever your profits sink year-over-year, you'll have investors complaining.
And those complaints have certainly been pointed. Directly at the CEO, in fact. And he knows it. Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo recently came forward to address some of the heat he has been taking, telling CNBC this week: "There has been a lot of speculation on my position, on myself, during the last couple of weeks and that is not good for Nokia and must be brought to an end one way or another. At the same time, I'm not in a position here and now to really shed any more light on the topic so I guess this is a no comment. I really concentrate now on the task at hand."
That's a pretty foreboding statement. What CEO admits that he may be on the way out if he doesn't think it's a distinct possibility? As much as we would hate for Nokia's long-standing leader to be pushed out, the company is in dire need of a new vision from someone. They simply aren't a part of North American culture any more, and without mind share, it's hard to gain market share. We can only hope that Nokia gets their gears turning soon. Believe it or not, we need the competition. Just look at how much iOS has improved since the advent of Android.
But it's no shock to hear that Nokia's profits are plunging. The company hasn't produced a compelling smartphone in over a year, and in the North American market, smartphones are what sell. Of course, Nokia is still making money without issue, and plenty of it by some estimates, but whenever your profits sink year-over-year, you'll have investors complaining.
And those complaints have certainly been pointed. Directly at the CEO, in fact. And he knows it. Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo recently came forward to address some of the heat he has been taking, telling CNBC this week: "There has been a lot of speculation on my position, on myself, during the last couple of weeks and that is not good for Nokia and must be brought to an end one way or another. At the same time, I'm not in a position here and now to really shed any more light on the topic so I guess this is a no comment. I really concentrate now on the task at hand."
That's a pretty foreboding statement. What CEO admits that he may be on the way out if he doesn't think it's a distinct possibility? As much as we would hate for Nokia's long-standing leader to be pushed out, the company is in dire need of a new vision from someone. They simply aren't a part of North American culture any more, and without mind share, it's hard to gain market share. We can only hope that Nokia gets their gears turning soon. Believe it or not, we need the competition. Just look at how much iOS has improved since the advent of Android.
