A group of nine unnamed Nokia shareholders published a manifesto online Tuesday, dubbed Nokia Plan B, to counter the company's strategy and partnership with Microsoft Corp. at Nokia's annual general meeting scheduled May 3 in Helsinki.
In addition to a call for the immediate dismissal of Mr. Elop, the group said they want Nokia to be in control of its own smart phone operating system. They also want MeeGo as Nokia's primary smart phone platform, to increase the lifespan of Symbian to a minimum of five years, and a restructuring of the Microsoft deal as a tactical strategy focused on North America.
Nokia, the world's largest manufacturer of mobile handsets, announced Friday it will partner with Microsoft to use Windows Phone as its main smartphone operating system.
The identity of the authors, who state they have all worked with Nokia in different capacities in the past, couldn't immediately be determined.
Nokia said it is aware of the anonymous letter being published, but that it hasn't been directly contacted by its authors.
"Nokia's new strategy has full approval from the board of directors and the Nokia leadership team, and our focus now is on the execution of this new strategy," Nokia spokeswoman Mona Kopponen said.
Alan B. Lancz, president of wealth management firm Alan B. Lancz & Associates in Toledo, Ohio, which holds 25,000 shares of Nokia, said Elop is acting from a position of weakness, and that is why the stock has reacted so negatively. Still, he said he agrees with Nokia's decision.
"When you look at it from a long term perspective, it was one of the best chances they had to still take advantage of their giant footprint," he said of the deal. "I just think it was late. I think a drastic measure had to be taken and unfortunately it wasn't taken by his predecessor."
Mr. Lancz added a deal with Google would have made it hard for Nokia to differentiate, and at least a Microsoft Nokia partnership has the potential to accomplish what Android has done in the market. Now it's just a matter of how quickly both parties can work together to get something competitive into the market.
Mr. Lancz, who says he also owns Google Inc., Apple Inc. and Research in Motion Ltd. shares, said that at the price of the stock today there is still opportunity for investors to make money on the stock even though in the short term it may be volatile, given the difficult environment for Nokia.
"I think at these levels if Nokia and Microsoft can show any kind of success at all, I think it will be a good total return vehicle for investors," he said.
He added that Elop could have presented the deal better both to employees and investors, instead of coming back days later to further explain that Microsoft was paying billions to Nokia. "There were definite missteps, and I hope he has learned from it," he said. Sell-side analysts asked to comment on the note declined to do so, saying it wouldn't be in their companies' best interests.
Another attack on Nokia Tuesday came from the Finnish trade union Pro, as Nokia's shift in strategy means it will cut research and development costs on its own Symbian platform. Nokia has for the last years struggled to compete with the growing dominance of Apple Inc.'s iPhone and smartphones based on Google Inc.'s Android platform.
The union is demanding that Nokia pays €100,000 to each employee it lays off as part of its strategy overhaul.
"It would be reasonable that those who lose their jobs would receive a lump sum of €100,000 in addition to their severance payment to help finance their reeducation," Antti Rinne, chairman of trade union Pro, said.
Nokia spokeswoman Henna Pelkola said the company takes its responsibility as an employer seriously.
"When the planning proceeds and we get more visibility to the personnel related impact of our strategy, we will invest time and resources in supporting our employees who are impacted by the changes," Ms. Pelkola said.
Mr. Rinne reiterated estimates that Nokia could cut as many as 5,000 jobs in Finland, where Nokia has 19,840 employees, of which about 6,500 work in research and development. The Pro union has close to 5,000 members employed by Nokia.
The majority of Nokia's remaining staff in Finland is represented by the Finnish Federation of Professional and Managerial Staff, or YTN, with more than 10,000 Nokia employees.
The chairman of the YTN federation, Heikki Kauppi, said the next step would be for Nokia to announce the amount of jobs to be cut and to detail when they will go.
"If the number isn't too big, the Finnish information and communication technologies [ICT] industry in Finland could absorb them," said Mr. Kauppi.
The ICT industry is currently suffering from a lack of qualified personnel, with Mr. Kauppi estimating that one thousand Nokia employees easily could find new jobs here in Finland.
However, Mr. Kauppi also said Finland would need a concerted program, involving financing from both the Finnish government and Nokia itself, if it were to announce a much larger number of job cuts.
"I consider it very important that Nokia invest in the future of those who stand to lose their jobs because it is going to affect the motivation for those who go on working for Nokia as well," Mr. Kauppi said.
FPMS spokesman Ari Aberg said he was aware of union officials already being in touch with Nokia management, the Finnish government and the European Union Globalization Fund.
"These are just preliminary talks and no formal delegations have been formulated yet," Mr. Aberg said.
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