Nokia chief has scoffed off rumours of a possible Microsoft takeover as rumours suggest otherwise.
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Stephen Elop told a reporter at D9 event in the US yesterday that the rumours were without truth.
“There’s absolutely no discussion. The rumours are baseless. It is as clear as that.”
However, online speculations persists that a deal has already been done, to the tune of $19bn, based on claims from industry insider Eldar Murtazin, regarded as a reliable source and tipped the initial billion dollar Microsoft mobile deal with Nokia, which saw it pledge allegiance to Windows 7 platform for smartphones, according to BGR.com.
But Elop, a former Microsoft exec, was quick to kill suggestions he was planted into the top spot at Nokia last year until his former employer made its next move.
“The Trojan horse theory has been well overplayed,” he said. “I refer you to the grassy knoll for that one,” referring to a conspiracy theory about a second assassin of John F Kennedy in Dallas.
This comes as Nokia warned investors it may not make a profit in the next quarter, admitting it may only manage break even between April and June 2011.
The Finnish phones giant, admitted that profits will be “substantially lower” than the 6 – 9 percent margin it had initially expected, due to faltering handset sales across the globe and the demise of its Symbian OS. Its share prices slid after the announcement on Wednesday.
However, Nokia, who is still the number one mobile company by sales has lost market share to smartphones like iPhone and Android handsets like Samsung Galaxy and HTC, which has whetted consumer appetites for high end devices.
“My principal focus and the focus of the team is to take care of the short term but make sure that the execution is flawless”, Elop added, although admitted the changes “certainly feels painful right now.”
And it is hoping its hook up with Microsoft earlier this year, which will see it binning its own Symbian OS and running Microsoft 7 platforms on a whole family of devices, covering the high and low end market, according to the Nokia boss.
“In the first launch you’ll see the first device, but then a whole family of devices. We’ll be at many price points all over the world.”
In the interview with Walt Mossberg, Elop also admitted Nokia tablets could be in the pipeline. “We’ll have to address that space,” he said.
