Former Nokia Exec Trashes Elop And Windows Phone

Former Nokia exec Lee Williams has slammed Nokia CEO Stephen Elop and the choke hold of the Windows Phone in a recent interview when asked about his views on the struggling Finnish handset maker. From accusing Elop of a lack of long-term vision to calling the ditching of Symbian and adoption of Windows Phone bad ideas, Williams doesn't mince words.

During the lengthy interview with CNET UK, Williams said that Elop had "no overarching vision." He claimed that the Nokia CEO was operating more like a CFO, nickel-and-diming instead of focusing on innovation. He also felt that Nokia shouldn't have ditched Symbian and switch so frantically to Windows Phone.

Even with the Lumia Windows Phones, Williams doesn't feel that Nokia differentiated enough. The battery life is way behind Nokia's other products and Nokia's advanced imaging technology couldn't be leveraged by the Windows Phone code.

Williams agreed that Android wasn't an option, allegedly being "less capable" but he also felt that the Windows Phone platform falls short. For instance, Windows Phone still cannot utilize some technology that Symbian is capable of supporting, such as Nokia's 41-megapixel PureView sensor.

Additionally, he feels that Nokia shouldn't have replaced so many Finnish employees with Americans and British as "Nokia is Finland, and Finland is Nokia." The heavy changes in the top ranks isn't good for the company, which at its core is Finnish.

[via InformationWeek]