

Nokia-Microsoft Deal Gets Signed - BrandonWatson
http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/21/nokia-microsoft-deal-gets-signed-volume-shipments-on-schedule/

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hollerith
Let me see if I have this right: the CEO of Nokia very publicly declares that
he is going to bet the company on WP7 weeks before finalizing a deal for WP7.

Didn't the very public declaration, which IIRC caused _resignations_ by
engineers working on Symbian and Meego, radically weaken Nokia's negotiating
position?

I must be missing something because it is unlikely that the leadership of a
major corporation would be that unskillful at negotiation.

~~~
pohl
It has been suggested that Elop was installed at Nokia specifically to act in
Microsoft's best interest. Indeed, his actions make sense when so viewed.

Interestingly, this may be his specialty: check out his movements preceding
the sale of Macromedia to Adobe.

~~~
endtime
Can you unpack 'was installed'? Microsoft doesn't have the ability to appoint
Nokia's CEO.

~~~
pohl
Of course they wouldn't have the ability to appoint at will, but they
certainly could install opportunistically. You start by spotting someone who
manages their career in a way that indicates useful skills and mindset:

[http://www.siliconbeat.com/2008/01/11/microsoft-beware-
steph...](http://www.siliconbeat.com/2008/01/11/microsoft-beware-stephen-elop-
is-a-flight-risk/)

...then you make them a high-valued member of your senior leadership team...

<http://www.crunchbase.com/person/stephen-elop>

...then when opportunity strikes and Nokia tries to buy him away you set up an
under-the-table quid-pro-quo deal that would, one presumes, dwarf the $6m
signing bonus Nokia gave him:

[http://siliconangle.com/blog/2011/03/11/stephen-elop-of-
noki...](http://siliconangle.com/blog/2011/03/11/stephen-elop-of-nokia-
receives-6-million-signing-bonus/)

Sure, it's just conjecture, but it's not implausible.

~~~
endtime
You haven't answered my question _at all_. I'm asking how MSFT can "install"
someone at Nokia. All you've said is that Elop was a good employee who got
promoted, and then Nokia came and tried to hire him. That's not MSFT
"installing" anyone.

The far simpler explanation is that if Elop is going to make a big bet with
Nokia, he feels safer doing it with MSFT (who need Nokia, and where he knows
people) than Google (who don't, and where he doesn't).

~~~
pohl
I'm sorry. The only question that I see is to unpack "install", which I take
as a figurative expression meaning to analyze something into its component
elements. I broke down everything that I meant to imply by the word, so you'll
have to ask a different question.

 _Edit to reply below: your probability analysis ignores Elop's improbable
behavior as described by hollerith above. And, again, this is not my
explanation (this conjecture was all over threads discussing the deal the day
it was announced). I'm not even saying that I buy into it, although I do have
to acknowledge that people involved with deals in the billions of dollars are
seldom strangers to opportunism._

~~~
contextfree
I think a more likely explanation is that the causality is in the other
direction: the Nokia board was already leaning toward making a deal with
Microsoft before they hired Elop, and he was hired with that in mind.

------
misterbwong
Am I the only one that sees this as a good thing?

Nokia gets an reasonably well made OS to replace its own, widely criticized,
OS. Nokia instantly becomes the one of (if not _the_ ) largest WP7 vendor,
thus giving it way more negotiating power than if they were to adopt Android.

Microsoft gets the largest handset maker to adopt an OS that is struggling to
gain traction, instantly upping their credibility in the market.

The rest of us get a legitimate third player in a smartphone market dominated
by iOS and Android.

~~~
GoodIntentions
no, you are not the only one.

Managed correctly I don't see how this won't benefit each party. Nokia makes
good phones. The software, less good. Microsoft has tonnes of experience
creating user interfaces that are user friendly.

I'm a long time linux guy who uses a 6 year old Samsung dumb phone, but I
bought NOK and MSFT after the initial announcement. No guarantees in this
world, but I think it was a good bet.

------
mohoyt
And here marks the beginning of Nokia's transformation to an OEM...

------
rajuvegesna
This deal sounds very similar to MS-Yahoo deal. Abandon your existing
technology, rely on competitors tech and expect growth.

We have seen how MS-Yahoo deal played out this week. It won't be long before
Nokia realized what they got into. By then, it'll be too late.

~~~
1337p337
It looks that way, which is pretty sad. I'm typing this on my beloved N900,
which I found far more usable and open than Android (which I kicked when it
wouldn't stop screaming "CLOUD! CLOUD!" at me, and Eric Schmidt kept coming
into my house at night to smell my hair).

Seriously, though, there are only two real competitors, Apple and Google, in
the smartphone market, which is unfortunate for everyone. Windows phones have
been floundering, WebOS seems to have lost traction, and Blackberries
are...Blackberry who? I hope we're not entering the Dark Ages of Mobile
Phones.

~~~
evanhanson
I've been waiting a long time for the successor to the N900. It's sad it'll
never happen, and that there's nothing similar on the horizon (especially with
Maemo/Moblin/MeeGo floundering).

------
shareme
Note, other MS partner deals that work oh so well:

MS-Yahoo..the current revenue numbers indicate that with MS's help Yahoo will
reach a floor of below $200 million within one year from now from a high of
several yeas back of $500 million.

How many restarts for winCE now? Is it not he 5th code base restart? Gee Nokia
should be right at home than :)

~~~
cooldeal
>How many restarts for winCE now? Is it not he 5th code base restart?

Reference?

~~~
contextfree
As far as I know, there hasn't ever been a code base restart for Windows CE
(the kernel and infrastructure components). The Pocket PC/Windows
Mobile/Windows Phone interface/app platform layer above it has been restarted
a couple times, hence the name changes.

