[sangnoir]

By describing 'the situation as it actually existed', he did a massive disservice to the company he helmed. I am not saying it was the reason Nokia failed, only that it was a huge contributing factor.

You do not expect a company CEO to do negative PR - he damaged Nokia's brand and greatly harmed the confidence developers/consumers had in Nokia.

> I don't think it's realistic to blame so much on a few hundred words.

From the article I previously linked: "Gerald Ratner[1] was CEO of British jewelry group Ratners (since renamed Signet Group). He made a famous speech in London to the Institute of Directors in 1991 in which he said his company products were sold for such low prices "because its total crap." This remark was then published and caused his company to collapse and was only saved by his departure - and the rebranding of the company to Signet."

Ratner destroyed his company in 43 words (relevant part of speech is on Wikipedia).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ratner