Nokia and Windows Phone 8 just aren't cutting it for Nokia investors. Reportedly, investors are pressuring Nokia CEO Stephen Elop to branch out from Windows Phone, and the investors' patience is wearing thin.
Nokia was once the king of smartphone world, selling more smartphones and feature phones than any other company by a long shot, but once the iPhone hit and Android smartphones began popping up, Nokia's rise to the top began to crack at the seams. It had been using Symbian as its smartphone platform. As Symbian failed to evolve in a direction that would allow Nokia to compete with other smartphone players, Nokia signed an exclusive deal with Microsoft to use Windows Phone as the smartphone OS for its Lumia line.
Microsoft gave Nokia exclusive perks that other Windows Phone licensees were not offered. Nokia was allowed to customize Windows Phone a bit and add its own Nokia-branded applications to separate it from other Windows Phone licensees. While Nokia's Lumia brand is the poster child for Windows Phone, sales have not been great and investors are getting tired of hearing Stephen Elop promise that things are going to turn around.
Reuters reports that Nokia investors told Stephen Elop they "were running out of patience with his flagging attempts to catch up with market leaders Apple and Samsung."
Shareholders reportedly pressured Elop to reconsider the exclusive deal he made with Microsoft in 2011, as it has yet to bring any significant benefit, when Microsoft's own Windows Phone licensees, Samsung, HTC and Huawei all offer Android smartphones as well. Nokia is now feeling the Android pressure even more. One shareholder shared his frustrations with Elop and said:
"You're a nice guy... and the leadership team is doing its best, but clearly, it's not enough. Are you aware that results are what matter? The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Please switch to another road."
Elop stuck to his word and reconfirmed his company's commitment to Microsoft and its Windows Phone operating system by saying:
"We make adjustments as we go. But it's very clear to us that in today's war of ecosystems, we've made a very clear decision to focus on Windows Phone with our Lumia product line, and it is with that that we will compete with competitors like Samsung and (Google's operating system) Android."
It doesn't sound like investors think the Nokia Lumia 928 will turn things around, even with its reported aluminum casing and its self-proclaimed, best low-light smartphone camera. Will it really be enough to compete with the likes of the HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4, iPhone 5S, BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10? If not, the next meeting might be held to discuss the CEO's future, rather than Nokia's,
