Nokia’s shareholders asked chief executive Stephen Elop to reconsider the use of Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system at the firm’s annual general meeting yesterday.
Shareholders readily backed a plan not to pay a dividend for 2012 and re-elected Elop to the Board, but demanded the chief step up his efforts to claw back ground on rivals including Apple and Samsung.
Several shareholders told Elop they believe the best way to close the gap is to review the decision to switch from Nokia’s own Symbian operating system to Microsoft software, Reuters reports.
The AGM cleared Nokia’s board to issue up to 740 million new shares over the next three years, and also repurchase up to 340 million shares in the next 12 months. It also elected Elizabeth Doherty to the Board, and re-elected Bruce Brown, Henning Kagermann, Jouko Karvinen, Helge Lund, Mårten Mickos, Elizabeth Nelson, Risto Siilasmaa and Kari Stadigh.