Why can't Elop take credit for his achievement?
When Elop arrived at Nokia, they were selling more phones than Apple and Samsung put together. Their market share and unit sales were increasing right up until the burning platform memo. The Elop went to the carriers with the generous gift of being able to sell Microsoft phones and they told him "We hate Skype". Skype (owned by Microsoft) was eating the carrier's breakfast, so Nokia's excellent relationship with the carriers went straight down the toilet.
Doing a Ratner was not enough to knock Nokia out of the top 10. Elop had to combine it with a Osbourne. Nokia could not manufacture Windows phones. Their factories stood idle while manufacture was contracted out. When Nokia/Windows phones eventually reached the market, salesmen hid them. Two out of three Lumia's were promptly returned by customers. Salesmen did not want the hassle of filling in the returns paperwork, so they worked hard not to sell Lumias in the first place.
On top of pissing off the sales force and most customers, Microsoft was able to drive away Nokia's loyal customers by removing any hope of a software upgrade path.
No-one else has ever destroyed a market leading company so fast and thoroughly. Elop should take credit for his unique achievement.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
