Nokia gets its act together

For someone setting to rights a "burning platform", as he called Nokia earlier this year, CEO Stephen Elop cuts an unflustered figure.

Unveiling the next steps in the turnaround strategy for the iconic cellphone manufacturer at Nokia World in London late last month Elop was neither hyperbolic nor bombastic.

Even his key phrase - describing the new Lumia 800 flagship phone as "the first real Windows phone" - didn't seem that outrageous.

The likeable Canadian has been in the hot seat at Nokia since he was controversially appointed when Nokia's board unceremoniously dumped his predecessor, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, just before this annual event in September last year.

Elop stunned the cellular industry in February when he announced that Nokia was abandoning its Symbian operating system and backing the Windows Phone7 produced by Microsoft, previously its archrival.

Nokia, quite simply, had gone off the boil - until its board's radical wake-up action.

"The need for urgency is absolutely correct," he told me in an interview at Nokia World.

"We're changing course for the company; we're also changing our urgency," Elop said with the unflinching honesty that has characterised his year-long tenure.

There was a palpable buzz of excitement at Nokia World - in part, for the range of new Asha handsets that are aimed at the booming emerging markets where Nokia's brand value remains high.

Elop emphasised that in February he promised a Windows phone only in 2012 but eight months later had produced one.

"With the Windows phone we have proved we can execute," he said. "We started work on this months after [other manufacturers] and we have demonstrated how we can move faster.

"Our principal competition today is not the other Windows phone manufacturers, it's manufacturers of other operating systems.

"It's Windows phone versus Android, first off."

Nokia, which is still the biggest maker of cellphones - albeit in lower-cost handsets - is anxious to reassert itself through its Microsoft venture.

Once unassailable behemoths in their respective industries, both are now essentially sidelined former giants with tiny market share in the all-important smartphone segment, behind Apple's iOS and Google's Android operating systems.

Elop's plan to create a third mobile "ecosystem" bore fruit with the Lumia 800 and more "affordable" 710. Both are well-crafted and build on Nokia's reputation for manufacturing and design excellence - something that Elop hopes to reignite.

They run the newest Windows phone operating system, 7.5 Mango, which from first impressions is solid and workable.

It incorporates several Nokia add-ons, including updated Nokia Maps, which now feature real-time, turn-by-turn directions.

The Nokia Music service has also been revamped and offers 14million songs, which are free when people buy the phone.

"You've paid us for that music, We're just monetising it differently," Elop said. "We collect the money in a different way. There are other opportunities for us.

"We'll have some good news for South African customers after not too much time," he told me.

"The African market is where we have strong brand presence. A lot of that is at the low-end of the market.

"Africa is very important to us. There is clearly an opportunity, not just at the entry-level, but increasingly with smartphones.

"Earlier this year we recognised the need to shift our mobile strategy. We want people to feel and expect something special when they hear the word Nokia, but this simply wouldn't happen without change," Elop said.

The next few months will give an indication of this turnaround strategy and whether Nokia's brand strength will sustain it. The Lumia and Asha phones are a good start.

• Shapshak is the editor of Stuff magazine