It’s no secret that former Nokia CEO, Stephen Elop, is being considered as a candidate to assume the same position with Microsoft. However, according to a report form Bloomberg, if hired, Elop could elect to shift Microsoft’s strategy dramatically by making flagship software offerings like Office available on iOS and Android devices. These sentiments were floated by unnamed sources. There’s more to the story, though.
The sources also told Bloomberg that Elop would consider selling Microsoft’s Xbox business and also could choose to completely do away with its Bing search engine.
“Microsoft is trying to do too much, and these assets add no clear value to the overall business,” wrote Rick Sherlund, an analyst for Nomura.
Microsoft chimed in on the issue, offering its two cents on Bloomberg’s report.
“We appreciate Bloomberg’s foray into fiction and look forward to future episodes,” said Frank Shaw, a spokesman for Microsoft.
Cute, but Elop has a history of making dramatic shifts. As Nokia’s CEO, Elop did away with the Symbian OS, and cut tens of thousands of jobs. When previously employed by Microsoft, Elop played a central role in the initiative to bring Office to Nokia’s Symbian OS.
With that in mind, its not unreasonable to think that Elop could make similarly drastic changes if brought aboard by Microsoft as its next CEO once Steve Ballmer departs. After all, history does have a habit of repeating itself.
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