Nokia Chief Tech Officer has abandoned ship, citing personal problems.Besieged phone maker Nokia, once the powerhouse of the phone industry, has witnessed a steady spill of senior execs from its team, its latest casualty being Richard Green its Chief Technology Officer who has left for an unspecified period of time.
No reason was given other than a company spokesperson saying it was “to attend to a personal matter.”
Green had held the role for just about a year, having joined the Finnish giant in 2010, according to reports. Anssi Vanjoki, the Exec Vice President who ran Nokia’s Mobile Solutions also left last year having been in the job just months.
However, rumour has it Green’s defection was personal alright, as in his personal disagreement with Nokia’s decision to abandon its Intel based MeeGo OS in favour of Microsoft’s Windows, according to a local Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat.
Nokia N9 was among the handsets due for release on the fledgling platform.
Intel’s MeeGo open-source software platform was co-created by Nokia and Intel’s Linux-based platforms Maemo and Moblin, was tipped for launch in 2012.
“The first iPhone shipped in 2007, and we still don’t have a product that is close to their experience,” its chief executive Stephen Elop wrote in the leaked internal memo earlier this year.
“Android came on the scene just over two years ago, and this week they took our leadership position in smartphone volumes. Unbelievable.”
However, the abandon ship strategy adopted by the phone maker has had more than a few critics from internal sources, with 1000 staff staging a walk out when the initial deal with Microsoft was announced in February.
This couldn’t come at a worse time for Nokia as it looks to unleash a stream of Microsoft based smartphones and possibly even tabs in a bid to play catch up with market rulers, Android and Apple, who now reign supreme in both markets.
Every one in three consumers in the US are now opting for an Android handset, according to recent figures from ComScore, with Blackberry holding 29 percent, followed by Apple 25 percent share.
However, some analysts belive Nokia will revive with its leg up from Windows and could Windows platform command 20.9 percent of global market share by 2015.
