The dreadful news, that brought tears to the tundra and tantrums in the taiga, lies, tucked away quietly, on Page 152 of the Form F-20 Annual Report regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It discloses that for 2012 Mr. Elop was paid €4.33 million for overseeing the continued loss of market share to Samsung and Apple, a further 22 per cent collapse in the company's share value, the cancellation of shareholder dividend and the axing of a truly staggering 25,800 jobs. In 2011 his pay was €7.94 million.
Incredibly, in 2012 Elop's basic salary actually rose by €59,500 to €1.08 million but his share and "option awards" declined "slightly" and he didn't get a bonus. So, overall his pay packet was a bit slimmer than the year before. Cue the gnashing of teeth and rending of loincloths.
Despite all the hoo-hah and hype, sales of Nokia's much-vaunted "Lumia" Window Phone have been insufficient to offset other factors behind Nokia's continuing fall from grace and in 2012 Nokia's losses actually doubled to €3.106 billion.
Nonetheless, after having posted a modest Q4, 2012 profit (its first in six consecutive quarters) Nokia now claims that the worst is over and that it'll be all beer and skittles from now on in. However, many analysts are wary of the recovery claims and regard the Q4 figures as rather more of a flash in the pan than real evidence that Nokia is back on track.
Amongst the long list of "risk factors" enumerated in the 20-F report Nokia writes, 'We may not be able to make Nokia products with Windows Phone a competitive choice for consumers unless the Windows Phone ecosystem becomes a competitive and profitable global ecosystem that achieves sufficient scale, value and attractiveness to relevant market participants".
It adds, "If a successful Windows Phone ecosystem does not materialise in a timely manner, this would have a material adverse effect on sales of our Nokia products with Windows Phone and our profitability, and otherwise significantly impair our ability to compete effectively in the smartphone market.
And there you have it, straight from the horse's mouth.
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