Rumours break out all over Wall Street. Shares rise.
Reuters has reported that headhunters are actively searching for a replacement for current CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo.
He's been getting a ton of stick for Nokia's miserable performance, and its inability to respond to the challenge posed by Apple, Google and RIM.
Apparently, two industry sources told Reuters that 'OPK' is going and could be ousted as soon as the end of July.
The news agency quoted the voluble industry watcher John Strand, of Strand Consult, who said: "Kallasvuo is a bad communicator in a world where his competitors are Steve Jobs, Eric Schmidt and Steve Ballmer.
"He is good at selling phones, but bad at selling the Nokia story."
Article continues belowAdvertisement
Whether or not Nokia will find an 'outsider' willing to take on the challenge is uncertain. Traditionally, the firm has recruited from within.
And then there's the issue of persuading people to move to Finland. Even Finns accept this can be tricky.
Tero Kuittinen, analyst at MKM Partners, said: Finding a US CEO willing to move to Finland is going to be tough. Nokia hasn't traditionally paid massive compensation packages required for taking such punishment."
Punishment!
Nokia is expected to post a 27 per cent fall in second-quarter earnings per share it its next fiscals, due tomorrow.
The firm is hoping that a combination of N8, Symbian 3 and Meego will improve its fortunes later this year.
