Is Nokia Stuck Behind The Technology Curve? (NOK, AAPL, MSFT)

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) CEO Stephen Elop is trying to stop counter-productive traditions in the company. Nokia executives take an annual vacation every July, a prime time for new technology releases. While Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) launches and ships out new iPhones, Nokia managers are relaxing at lake cottages in Finland. This is a prime example of the poor-productivity practices currently in place at Nokia.Elop is a former Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) executive and was hired to turn the company around. The first item on his list is trying to stop this annual vacation. Nokia is losing market share, and its stock has dropped as well. Nokia has become notorious for delaying releases of high-end smartphones. Although Nokia has access to Microsoft's Windows Phone 7, it doesn't plan on shipping in large volumes until 2012.Rob Sanfilippo, a Directions consultant, said regarding this delay, “It's risky even to wait that long. It would be great if they had them out by the middle of the year, June or summer, even if it's one device to show that there's real progress happening quickly.”Improving productivity is another necessity. Nokia needs new products out fast to prove that they are still a productive company. In the past, Nokia has spent between 18 months and 2 years developing new products, but the mobile industry product cycles are down to approximately 6 months.According to Bloomberg, “Nokia has delayed almost every top-end smartphone based on its own platforms since the N97 was shipped on time with buggy software in June 2009. It postponed the N900 in the fall of 2009, the N8 in the summer of 2010 and the E7 in winter 2010. The first MeeGo device was delayed to this year from 2010.”Elop feels that these issues are being addressed. He has said, “We're moving at a speed that is unparalleled for our company and I would argue is on par with anyone else in the industry.”Investors have clearly demonstrated their skepticism through stocks. Since the announced venture with Microsoft, Nokia's shares have dropped 25%.