Nokia replaces CEO: Kallasvuo out, Microsoft exec Elop in

Nokia Corp. (NOK), the world’s largest mobile device maker, said current CEO and President Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo will leave the company on Sept. 20 and be replaced by current Microsoft Corp. executive Stephen Elop.
“The time is right to accelerate the company’s renewal; to bring in new executive leadership with different skills and strengths in order to drive company success,” said Jorma Ollila, Chairman of the Nokia Board of Directors, in a statement. “The Nokia Board believes that Stephen has the right industry experience and leadership skills to realize the full potential of Nokia. His strong software background and proven record in change management will be valuable assets as we press harder to complete the transformation of the company. We believe that Stephen will be able to drive both innovation and efficient execution of the company strategy in order to deliver increased value to our shareholders.”
Gartner Inc. reported last month that Nokia maintained its position as the No. 1 handset vendor selling nearly 111.5 million devices around the world during the second quarter, garnering a 34.2% market share. However, the handset maker has seen its piece of the market slowly dwindle from more than 40% just a few years ago and it continues to find it difficult to garner more than a 10% share in the North American market.
Despite the continued worldwide market domination, Nokia posted disappointing second quarter results.
The handset maker has over the past several years tried to branch out beyond just hardware with mixed results. Its Symbian operating system platform remains the most broadly adopted throughout the world thanks to its tight integration into many of the company’s devices, but has steadily lost ground in the rapidly growing smart phone space to Apple Inc., Google Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd. The company has also invested heavily in other software operations, including the $8 billion acquisition of digital mapping company Navteq and its efforts to bolster its Ovi services.
Don’t feel sorry for OPK as he will leave Nokia’s top spot well compensated. Nokia noted that in accordance with the terms and conditions of his service contract, Kallasvuo is entitled to a severance payment consisting of 18 months gross base salary and target incentive which totals approximately $5.9 million. He will also receive as compensation the fair market value of the 100,000 restricted Nokia shares granted to him in 2007, which vest on October 1, 2010. Nokia’s stock was trading at $9.93 per share early Friday, up nearly 2% for the day.