Nokia's Elop: We Have No "Exact" Plans for a Tablet
Nokia (NYS: NOK) does not have any concrete plans to release a tablet, according to CEO Stephen Elop, comments that appear to quash a recent report that indicated Nokia would unveil a tablet in June.
"Nokia does not have an exact plan, but we are studying the markets carefully," Elop said in a televised interview on Finnish public broadcaster YLE. "Perhaps we will come [to market] one day."
In an interview in November with the French newspaper Les Echos, Paul Amsellem, the head of Nokia France, said that, "in June 2012, we will have a tablet running Windows 8." He did not elaborate, and the report did not provide more information on the tablet. In the past, Elop has said that Nokia would not rush a tablet to market just to join in the device cavalcade, and would instead focus on ensuring that any such tablet offered a "uniquely Nokia perspective."
Elop, the first non-Finn to run Nokia and a former Microsoft (NAS: MSFT) executive, also said the company would continue to maintain its headquarters in Espoo, Finland, a suburb of Helsinki. "There is no doubt about that," Elop said. "As long as I am the CEO, the headquarters are in Espoo. Nokia's got a lot of talent here in Finland." He added that Finland is "our home, our sense of belonging."
Since taking the helm and forging an alliance with Microsoft to use Windows Phone as Nokia's primary smartphone platform, Elop has presided over thousands of job cuts intended to streamline Nokia's operations. Some of those job cuts have been in Finland, raising fears that Nokia might move its global headquarters to North America.
Nokia just announced that T-Mobile USA will launch Nokia's first U.S. Windows Phone, the Lumia 710, on Jan. 11 for $49.99 with a two-year contract and after a $50 mail-in rebate.
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