Nokia CEO Brutal Memo Leaked and Evidence of Alliance with Microsoft

In a recently closed article developed by Engadget (link), Nokia CEO Stephen Elop sent an “employee only system” memo that leaked onto the Internet. In his memo, he brutally states that Nokia has essentially failed as a company in holding its ground. The big positive from this memo however is he is staying with Nokia and will pick it up from its downfall. How he will do this is what has lead to the big rumors in these last few days that Nokia will merge with Microsoft. Since then, developments have taken place at a rapid pace and now everyone is looking forward to Nokia moving into the Windows Phone 7 market.

The full memo can be found above at the Engadget link ,but there are definitely some memorable quotes found within. Aside from Elop admitting that Apple rapidly took the market share and dominates it, he gives an update on Nokia itself:

“We poured gasoline on our own burning platform. I believe we have lacked accountability and leadership to align and direct the company through these disruptive times. We had a series of misses. We haven’t been delivering innovation fast enough. We’re not collaborating internally. Nokia, our platform is burning.”

The Engadget article was concluded some time yesterday with various sources confirming it was in fact a legitimate memo from CEO Stephen Elop. Just about an hour ago from the time of this posting, Bloomberg Businessweek has evidence based “according to a person with knowledge of the discussions” that Nokia is indeed partnering with Microsoft. Bloomberg Businessweek states the following in their article:

Elop will unveil a new strategy for Nokia at an event in London tomorrow, laying out his comeback plan for the smartphone market. The partnership with Microsoft, if clinched, would be aimed at helping both companies claw back ground lost to Android and Apple’s iPhone at the high end of the market.

Analysts have also stated that Nokia is strategically making the decision to join Microsoft, as they would prefer to merge it’s market share with an emerging company. Before evidence emerged that Nokia was indeed merging with Microsoft, there were also meetings held with Google CEO. However, a merger with Google would have never happened according to analysts; Nokia would prefer to merge with a software company rather than just be another company that licenses Android software.

There is massive news emerging about this merge by the second. Market shares on the NYSE are holding steady for Microsoft while Nokia shares have been creepily rising in the past few days. Nokia is determined to regain its leadership and Microsoft is a great company to look at on their behalf. It is speculated that Nokia also has plenty of Windows Phone 7 devices to pitch with the announcement tomorrow. If this announcement is true, and does in fact take place tomorrow in London, it will definitely give a huge push to both Microsoft and Nokia.

What do you think about this possible merge between Nokia and Microsoft? How do you think their products will be different with WP7 running on them?