2011-06-10 10:33:08
Nokia's chief technology officer Rich Green has taken a leave of absence from
the mobile phone giant.
An official Nokia statement said he had left to resolve a "personal matter" and
gave no date for his return.
However, a Finnish newspaper quoted sources inside Nokia saying he had left
because of differences over strategy and would not return.
Mr Green was known to champion the MeeGo mobile operating system which Nokia
recently sidelined.
That decision was brought about by Nokia boss Stephen Elop's decision to adopt
Microsoft's Windows Phone software for its smartphones.
Tech change
Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat cited unnamed Nokia sources who claimed
that Mr Green's departure was linked to the MeeGo decision. In particular, it
said, Mr Green was unhappy with Nokia's decision to abandon plans to produce
phones built around the system.
In its statement, Nokia said Mr Green's absence would have "no impact on our
product strategy or our expected product launch timelines".
Photo of Rich Green Rich Green was known as a keen supporter of the Meego
system
Rich Green joined Nokia in early 2010 following a 19 year stint at Sun
Microsystems where he latterly oversaw the move of Java code onto mobile
phones.
When he was appointed, he was Nokia's fourth chief technology officer in five
years. The company said that Henry Tirri, currently head of Nokia's research
labs, will take over the post of technology boss.
The news of Mr Green's departure caps a rough month for Nokia in which it
announced that sales of its phones during the second quarter of the year would
be substantially below previous forecasts.
Ian Fogg, an independent industry analyst, declined to comment specifically on
Rich Green's departure but said the transformation Nokia was currently going
through was fast and far reaching.
Senior management at Nokia have had to make some very hard decisions about its
older projects and products, he said, adding that the strategy switch to
Windows had to take the entire company along with it.
This was essential to ensure Nokia could get on with the job of producing
Windows Phone handsets, explained Mr Fogg. However, he expressed concern that
the company was moving fast enough.
"Nokia has to bring Windows Phone devices to market quickly," said Mr Fogg. "It
has to execute faster. They need those devices to be shipping."