Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer offering every employee a free Nokia Lumia 920 or other smartphone

By Seth Brodeur
last updated

Recently-hired Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer, has kicked off a new endeavor at Yahoo in which all employees will receive their choice of a free smartphone, including the Nokia Lumia 920. The program called "Yahoo! Smart Phones, Smart Fun!" is intended to get workers using the same technologies as their customers and was announced to Yahoo employees across 22 countries in a memo, part of which said:

"We'd like our employees to have devices similar to our users, so we can think and work as the majority of our users do."

Yahoo workers will get to choose from the Nokia Lumia 920, iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S3, HTC One X (opens in new tab), and HTC EVO 4G LTE and will cover the corresponding monthly voice and data plans as well. In a blow to RIM (opens in new tab), Yahoo has made it part of their IT policy to no longer support Blackberries.

Yahoo is the second big company in the past couple of days to offer employees free smartphones. Microsoft just held a huge company event where they announced that workers would be receiving new PCs, Microsoft Surface tablets and Windows Phone 8 devices.

You can read the internal Yahoo memo in its entirety below.

"We have a very exciting update to share with you today - we are announcing  Yahoo! Smart Phones, Smart Fun!  As of today, Yahoo is moving off of blackberries as our corporate phones and on to smartphones in 22 countries.  A few weeks ago, we said that we would look into smartphone penetration rates globally and take those rates into account when deciding on corporate phones. Ideally, we'd like our employees to have devices similar to our users, so we can think and work as the majority of our users do.Moving forward, we'll offer you a choice of devices as well as provide monthly plans for the data and phone.The smartphone choices that we are including in the program are:* Apple iPhone 5* Android:    - Samsung Galaxy S3    - HTC One X    - HTC EVO 4G LTE* Windows Phone 8:    - Nokia Lumia 920We're getting started right away and taking orders starting now."

Source: Business Insider; Thanks for the tip, Karl!

Seth Brodeur
Seth Brodeur
103 Comments
  • Ticked me off when I saw this story on several other sites and the headlines all said Yahoo employees were all getting iPhone 5s. It's only when you read the story do you learn they have their choice of iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone.
  • That's because if they're smart they'll all pick the new iPhone. They can then sell the iPhone for top dollar in a month or so and buy the Nokia for about $200 off Craigslist and put a couple hundred in their pocket.
  • Yea, sell corporate property, that makes a whole lot of sense.
  • Maybe I read it wrong. I thought it said they were gonna give them a free phone. Regardless no cellphone holds value like the iPhone. If I could get any phone free I'd definitely get the one worth the most money. I'd definitely be using a W8. I also know economics
  • But using Windows Phonw without having Yahoo! Messenger would be lame in my opinion. They should develop a Y!M app with this occasion.
  • I think that's the point. If Yahoo employees have the Lumia, they'll start developing apps for it and making the ecosystem more friendly towards Windows Phone.
  • Notice that BlackBerry was not an option.
  • That's pointed out in the article.
  • I think those companies (including mine) who still adopt BB in their policies are really REALLY out of touch with the IT world.
  • Actually Neowin title was exactly the opposite:
    "Yahoo CEO offering employees a free Nokia Lumia 920"
    It just depends by what you read or watch.
     
  • What a beautiful, stunning and intelligent CEO...
  • I would work for her. ;-)
  • I would let her work for me...
  • +1000
  • What the hell, guys. This kind of shit really pisses me off. We (women) can't say anything in public without getting sexual remarks. Ever wondered why there are so few girls interested in in IT and gadgets? Well, the fact that we're only allowed into the "boy zone" if we take our clothes off might have something to do with it. Yes, that's right... look at how we are depicted in comics and video games. Look at how you react as soon as a pretty girl shows up on a picture in a blog right here, you start spamming with comments about how you wanna do her? Classy. Not even as a freakin CEO you would take us seriously, it's just "off with your clothes, i wanna do you". Original. I've worked as an Apple Genious before but quit because so many men were such assholes. And you guys show that this dickishness apparantly goes cross-platform.
  • i'm not even sorry that you got offended. how pretty or not a woman is doesn't have anything to do with how intelligent or not we guys consider her, though as you can see in the first post of this thread intelligence and beauty are considered part of the compliment. this woman, on top of being attractive (which billions of other women are, naturally), is inmensely talented, and intelligent. THAT is part of the equation of turning on men. ALL OF THAT is part of taking a woman seriously. your attitude isn't.
  • I'm sorry, but her attitude is fully in order considering many of the comments here.
  • Agreed.
  • Just wanted to add to the comment above mine: he looked at it from a more modern angle - with which I have to agree - but from a more primitive point of view, when I see an attractive CEO teasing us with a smile like that, being considered "classy" gets assigned the least possibly priority. That is not to say all guys are like this, but the majority are. That's what we are, and I certainly won't be sorry for what I naturally am.
    Don't be mad at us. You have Evolution to get mad at.
  • How in the world do you interpret her smile as "teasing?"
     
    I'm a guy and I "loves the ladies", but that picture is simply a corporate headshot. I just saw a CEO smiling. A pretty CEO, yes, but the picture didn't make me think about sex. I guess to each its own.
  • While I agree with your sentiment, the sarcastic prick in me was longing to post, " tits, or gtfo" :) alas, I don't think the humor would be appreciated. When I realized that the attractive woman pictured was the CEO and not a paid model, I was about to post how stunning she was but decided it was not pertinent to the article.
  • @voodoo_lady: I sympathize with your situation. Must be a royal pain in the ass to be a woman, especially when it comes to that stuff you described.
  • Thanks. I probably come off as a winy b*tch here, but the reality is a lot worse than most guys could imagine. To them it might feel like innocent compliments, but it's not so cute when you're at the genius bar and find yourself surrounded by a group of guys, where only one of them has a real case and the other ones just sneak around, faking slaps and dry humps (air humps?) behind my back. Anyways... An (internet) friend of mine wrote a blog post about some of her experiences. Keep in mind, this happens all the time. http://unwinona.tumblr.com/post/30861660109/i-debated-whether-or-not-to-...
  • I worked for a woman and her two daughters.  It was like having three wives at the same time.
    and no sex
     
  • Where do I send my resume?
  • I would work her...
  • I would tap th...work for her.
  • YES, but am not sure about working for Yahoo though :(
  • Would be cool if Microsoft reached out to all the Yahoo employees in some way to choose the Nokia. Some cool promotion thing.
  • Nokia is on it. Here's a quote from the mobilesyrup coverage of the story: "Nokia jumped at the marketing opportunity, too, offering any Yahoo employee who chooses its Lumia 920 device a free wireless charging plate". Unfortunately this likely means they won't ship one with the device when it hits store shelves...
  • "What a beautiful, stunning and intelligent CEO..."  
    I know right! I just want to shrink her and put her in my pocket and take her everywhere... <_<
  • That's a cool story.  I'd be interested in the % of who chose what.  Hope the 920 does well.  Just a side note, she's a very good looking lady. :D
  • Nokia needs to give it to them at a great corporate rate absorb the lost and get great fun and exciting user feedback and what better way to advertise hands on.
  • What a fantastic idea.  Why can't I work for a company like that?  LOL  Congratulations to all the employees.  I hope they appreciate the gesture.
  • Cool! But they'll pick iPhone or galaxy probably
  • Man, if I apply at MS headquarters for a Maintenance position, would I get freebies too? :)
    I may not be a tech geek, but I can sure fix a broken toilet!!!
  • Lol +1
  • Please let us know if that works lol
  • Would be interesting to see the percentage of the choices.  Even though we all know the Lumia 920 is the best choice I bet it would be the least chosen, especially since its not out yet.  How many would wait a month and a half for a phone when they could have an iPhone 5 or a Galaxy SIII right away?
  • Wow great point
  • Yes. Reality bites.
  • I would definitely wait.
  • The corporate order for these probably won't go in for a while. Think about the typical backlog at this time of year for new iPhones. The 920 and iPhone 5 will probably be available for the employees roughly the same time.
  • Exactly.
  • I'm waiting but totally get your point. I ponder on getting the iPhone every year, but for some reason I never do. Actually I did once, and took it back. I kinda got bored with the OS really fast...matter fact the only OS I never get tired of is WP.
  • Is not this an oxymoron: "we all know the Lumia 920 is the best choice" and "it's not out yet"?
    My Lumia 900 is quite big already, I do not know how a 4.5" device would fit in my pocket and I would surely hod and feel it before buying. 
  • I wonder how soon this program will actually start (after the preordering is complete) and maybe this tells us that WP8 will be out soon. And maybe the 920 could be out and ready to ship in a few weeks :o
  • Of course you know which one most will choose.
  • Yeah, it is too bad.
  • I wonder what MTM software these companies use to protect the data and manage these phones.
  • Too bad they just didn't say Nokia only
  • The key is her statement that "We'd like our employees to have devices similar to our users...." So, as much as I agree that the Nokia Lumia 920 is the best option (despite the wait) most users have iOS and Android-based smartphones. Sad but true.
  • I'd work under her. I'd work next to her, on top of her, behind her. Whatever the boss wants to hopefully get a head in the company....and a new Lumia.
  • Stop the demeaning comments you ásshole
  • Get your head out of the gutter. Mercy.
  • Your head is the one that's in the gutter
  • Really classy you pig. You need to evolve.
  • Lol
  • I'd hit it.  
  • Execs know that for $50/mo, they can give employees smart phones and have them on call 24x7x365!  Work on your 9s of availability yahooers.  Free phone!!!
     
  • Hopefully this means we get Yahoo! apps on Windows Phone
  • I think im in love :P
  • Im sending my resume as we speak
  • Of course the Lumia is put last on the memo...
  • Don't forget those getting the iP5 still have to wait
  • I think WP would be the perfect choice.
  • All you guys fawning over her know that even as Yahoo! employees the only way you'd even be in the same room as her is if you were a high level exec, her assistant, or-in the case of SaviorXX9, fixing the can in her private bathroom.
  • Well she is also married and had a kid on the way. that should temper things.
  • IMO ... just the offer of Lumia 920 puts Windows Phone (esp. Nokia) on the radar for enterprise/professional users. 
  • She's not going to be a good CEO; she's a follower, not a leader.....just copied Ballmer's move :-D
  • A couple of observations here:
    First Who knows who thought about first?
    Second Ballmer is not giving the goodies to both full-time and part time employees.
    Third: Yahoo gives a very good list of devices to choose from; understandably MS does not.
    Fourth, and probably most important: Based on the article it seems that Yahoo was already offering a smartphone to its employees but it was a Blackberry, no alternatives.
    Do not get me wrong: offering bonuses to employees is always useful because, among other effects, allows you to quikly identify the most responding ones and those are the ones you want to invest more heavily on.
  • Time will tell. So far she's doing a lot better than most of the past Yahoo CEOs. And what is so bad about following a good idea? Moreover everyone is just basically copying Santa Claus anyway.
  • Company give always? Must be nice. We had a program at my work once where we all received free computers and Internet for a year free but back then it was dial up...
  • Shut the fúck up with the disgusting and degrading comments.
  • +1000
  • Whoa now. That language is degrading to my ears. You hypocrite.
  • It's not hypocritical at all.
  • Ma'am, you need to settle down. Your hissy fit is amusing though.
  • I'm not even a woman, that comment just shows how ignorant you are
  • Could have fooled me. Oh wait.. Maybe you're just "virtually insane"?
  • Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh shut the fúck up you stupid muthafúcka shut the fúck up!
  • I can't hear you ma'am. Can you speak up please?
  • If you choose anything but iPhone you'll be promptly fired... :-)
  • Great! Where's the job application?:)
  • At last, some one who is actually open minded enough to allow her staff to have a choice on what they want to use.
  • + 1000
  • Double post.
  • As far as the whole computer/phone/tablet for Microsoft employees goes (yes I know this is only semi-relevant to the article) does that include Microsoft store employees??
  • If the Store employee is a full time employee, then yes they are included. Some store employees are contractors, who don't qualify...
  • i bet its already outsourced lol 
  • I'm surprised people find her attractive. To each his own I guess.
  • Its hard to believe they will pick the 920 out that group, but I pray they will..
  • What I want to know is, of those that choose the Lumia 920, what is their experience is with the phone. No doubt in my mind the best choice is the Lumia 920 but I'm all about the platform already. I want to know how they feel about it. Either that or I'll wait for a review on Technocove.com or here at WPCentral. At least I know it will be an unbiased one.
  • Just say they are getting a free smart phone of there choice
  • Probably take iPhone or SGSIII.... would be interesting to know what they choose!
  • Nice step. Yahoo needs to have an Android, iOS and Windows Phone 8 app.
     
  • I'd be interested in what phone she'd be getting. She started the whole keep things simple at Google, like their welcome screen, so my guess is she's getting a WP.
  • Hopefully! A hot phone like Lumia 920 will surely compliment her. Maybe that's why it's included in the list because she's thinking about getting one? Anyway I'm sure she'll choose one that she really likes in the end, a choice that is not driven by bias. Even if its not a WP props to her for giving WP a chance :-)
  • I'd still rather be a Microsoft employee and get a free surface...
  • Great initiative. This new CEO holds a much better vision indeed
  • Looking at all these comments I guess its good that we cant comment on the Monday Brief with Ashley. :)
  • Yup.
  • :)