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The former head of Nokia’s smartphone arm has called its sale to Microsoft “shameful,” saying Nokia under CEO Stephen Elop is “a complete failure”.
Anssi Vanjoki, who was employed at Nokia for 19 years, left in 2010 following Elop’s adoption of the CEO position. Vanjoki was expected to take the CEO position himself before Elop, at the time employed by Microsoft, took over.
Speaking about the recent news that Microsoft had purchased Nokia’s Device & Services division, as well as patents and its mapping service, Vanjoki told The Verge that it was “shameful, but avoidable.”
“This is a complete failure of chosen strategy and its implementation,” he added.
Despite Vanjoki’s criticism of Nokia under Elop’s leadership, he expressed his desire for the deal to benefit his former employer.
“Nokia was not able to make it work,” he said. “For Finland’s sake I hope Microsoft will.”
