Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo Gets Ousted, Bested By Former Microsoft Exec Stephen Elop

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Several competitors in the smartphone industry have been making successful strides in terms of sales numbers and market share gain as of late. Two major companies that may instantly come to mind are Google and Apple with their Android and iOS platforms, respectively.

If we look past Google and Apple we can see other highly successful companies that have their fair share of success in the mobile industry. Research in Motion, for instance, has their extremely popular line up of BlackBerry devices aimed almost entirely at the enterprise market. Nokia too has their own hard hitting devices like the Nokia N900 and forthcoming Nokia N8 (among other devices) and manages to maintain 33% of the worldwide handset market.

However, compared to the above mentioned companies, Nokia is arguably lagging behind in terms of innovation. If we go back about a decade, things were much different with just about everyone having a Nokia cellphone. But now, Nokia is late to the game with features that other devices have had for many years.

Nokia’s investors apparently agree with these arguments as it was just made known that CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo will be replaced with former Microsoft exec Stephen Elop effective September 21st. Of course, Mr. Kallasvuo won’t be walking away with nothing as he managed to secure a €4.6 million severance package along with with a non-excutive spot on the board of Nokia Siemens Networks.

Stephen Elop worked as the head of Microsoft’s business division with previous high level positions within Macromedia, Adobe Systems, Juniper Networks and more. Nokia chairman of the board Jorma Ollila had this to say about Mr. Elop’s new Nokia position:

“The time is right to accelerate the company’s renewal — to bring in new executive leadership with different skills and strengths in order to drive company success.”

What exactly will we see out of the company now that Kallasvuo is out and Elop is in? Perhaps some handsets running Android? Maybe a tablet or two? Only time will tell, however, seeing Nokia’s stock jumped a decent 5% after this announcement is made public, Ollila isn’t the only one who thinks this is great news for the company.