Can Stephen Elop make Nokia
The ex-Microsoft
A change is gonna come
That is simply not the case today. When consumers go looking for a high-end smartphone on these golden shores, they are likely to recoil from Nokia with a severe case of sticker shock -- if they can find a Finnish smartphone at all.
For example, the only smartphone powered by Nokia's Symbian software from AT&T
How about eternal counterculture upstart Sprint Nextel
The Sumo Zen?
That's right: Sanyo phones get more airplay than Nokia's over here even though Nokia remains the worldwide leader in both overall phone sales and smartphones. If you want a highly capable Nokia N8 touchscreen phone, you gotta buy it unlocked from Amazon.com
There are no carrier subsidies and no marketing partnerships, and even if this phone blows the Apple
Now Elop has hired former Verizon marketing guru Jerri DeVard as chief marketing officer, and you have to believe that she will pull some tricks out of her personal network to build a relationship between Nokia and Verizon.
That doesn't mean Nokia's smartphones will instantly start selling like hotcakes in America -- after all, Nokia is losing smartphone share to Androids and iPhones on a global scale. Innovation is still key to Nokia's success, with or without top-notch marketing expertise. But DeVard's hiring is an important step into our very large smartphone market. Throw in a wholesale makeover of Nokia's opaque product-naming system, and I might be convinced that the company could make a serious impact stateside.
Will it work?
Nokia is huge around the world and especially strong in China. Elop thinks that success should translate into strong American sales, too, as he told analysts the following in his first earnings call at Nokia's rudder:
Our lack of success in the North American market has also been characterized as a weakness. While it is certainly that, it is also a symptom. There is no systemic reason that Nokia cannot succeed in North America. I believe there is a degree of focus and execution necessary, along with different patterns of doing business, that can drive success in that marketplace.
And I think he hit the nail on the head right there.
Is this a turning point in Nokia's knotty history or just a meaningless hire? Keep an eye on how the Nokia story develops from here by adding the stock to your Foolish Watchlist.