May 31: Mobile phone maker Nokia Oyj abandoned hope of meeting key targets just weeks after setting them, raising questions over whether its new boss can deliver on the turnaround he promised in February. Its shares tumbled nearly 20 per cent to their lowest in some 13 years.
Nokia, once the undisputed leading force in the mobile phone market, has seen its position threatened in recent years, particularly losing ground in the smartphone sector to Apple Inc’s iPhone and Google Inc’s Android devices. The company, still the number one handset maker by volume, is switching to Microsoft Corp’s software from its own Symbian platform as part of an overhaul of its phone business set out three months ago by the new CEO, Mr Stephen Elop.