Sure, but even if Nokia was already on the path into irrelevance, Elop greatly accelerated the pace. He did this by announcing that Nokia would abandon the Symbian OS for Windows Phone OS; a distant 3rd in terms of the OS penetration. All this while the company had NO products to introduce with the Windows Phone OS for another 6 months, leaving all Symbian smartphones they did have at the time dead in the water. (Who wants to buy a phone with an obsolete OS?) This ensures a definite and immediate share price slide.
Elop's initial announcement made me wonder if he had not heard about the Osborne.
There is a limit to stupidity before you consider malice. Only extensive brain damage could explain Elop's stupidity.
No, it was the world's most popular smartphone vendor.
It was in serious financial trouble, but it still ruled the world.