Company will get billions from Microsoft, Nokia CEO explains

Associated Press

BARCELONA, Spain

Nokia Corp. will get billions of dollars from Microsoft Corp. to ditch its current smart-phone software in favor of Windows Phone 7, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said Sunday, in a defense of the deal.

Nokia, the world’s largest maker of phones, and Microsoft announced their alliance Friday. Both investors and employees reacted with dismay: Nokia’s stock dived 14 percent and Finnish employees used flex time to go home early.

On Sunday, a day ahead of the start of the Mobile World Congress cell phone trade show in Barcelona, Elop told press, analysts and industry players that apart from the benefits of the alliance that were laid out Friday, Microsoft is paying Nokia billions of dollars to switch to Windows Phone 7.

“This is something I don’t think was completely explained,” Elop said.