Microsoft

Steve Ballmer hasnt always been the most popular CEO in the world, but its time for him to go. Microsoft is being made to look foolish in the smartphone OS market; it has no presence in tablets; and there is some concern that Windows and Office might not be the cash cows they once were after Windows 8 launches. Maybe its time for some fresh ideas at Microsoft.

Yahoo is a mess. After Carol Bartz was fired, the company became the subject of potential buyouts that, publicly, its board says it doesnt want, but privately has to be hoping for. Yahoo says its looking for a new CEO, but so far, that search has proven fruitless. Maybe its time Yahoo either sells to the highest bidder or starts getting serious about finding a new top executive.

It wont be easy for the Dell board of directors to unseat the companys founder as CEO, but the time has come for it to do just that. Michael Dell is totally lost in the mobile space. Although he has been able to stabilize Dells PC division, he hasnt done nearly enough to safeguard his company from the cloud and services threats it will face in the coming years.

Sony CEO Howard Stringer says that he has had his sights set on Apple for years now. And finally, he is going to be able to implement a strategy to take on the iPhone maker. The only trouble is, his so-called four-screen strategy is a joke. With a television business that continues to hurt earnings, it might be time for Stringer to go and be replaced by Kazuo Hirai—his—heir apparent.

Samsung is a rather interesting company. Like Sony, it provides a host of products to consumers and companies. But unlike Sony, it has been somewhat successful in the mobile market and the appliance business. That said, Samsung has been losing court battles all over the world against Apple, following claims that it violates patents the iPhone maker holds. Granted, Samsung says its innocent, but all those losses are a black eye on the company and they need to be rectified by finding some new leadership.

Cisco made the smart move earlier this year to refocus its company around the enterprise. The result was the quick discontinuation of many of its consumer-focused products, like the Flip camcorder. But there is more trouble than that at Cisco. For one, the Cisco Cius is a joke. Plus, its focus on consumer exploits over the years has made it lose some ground in the enterprise. Thats a problem that needs to be fixed with a new CEO.

AOL is quickly joining the pantheon of former tech greats that just doesnt have what it takes any longer to be a success. The company is losing top executives at an alarming rate and its Websites arent doing nearly as well as they could. Furthermore, Tim Armstrong doesnt appear to know what to do to fix the company. He has to go.

What more can be said about Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis that hasnt already been said? Research In Motions co-CEOs are bringing the company down by focusing on the past, rather than trying to determine what the future holds. In the process, their shareholders are learning the hard way just how bad it can be when incompetent CEOs are in charge of a public company. The co-CEOs need to go.

Nokia finds itself in an extremely uncomfortable position right now. On one hand, its former mobile operating system of choice, Symbian, is dead. On the other hand, its next OS of choice, Windows Phone 7, has yet to catch on in the mobile market. Meanwhile, iOS and Android have won favor with consumers and enterprise users. Nokia might still be one of the top mobile device makers in the world, but for how much longer? Stephen Elop is putting his company is serious jeopardy.

This one might surprise many readers who think Googles financial performance justifies keeping Larry Page in place as the companys CEO. But further inspection reveals he might not be the best man for the job. One glaring issue is that he spent far too much—$12.5 billion—to acquire Motorola Mobility for patents. Furthermore, employees are leaving at an alarming rate over concerns that hes too much of a micro-manager and has changed the companys core policies too much. Add that to the ridiculous number of mediocre solutions his company keeps releasing, and it might become clearer that Page just doesnt have what it takes to be Google CEO.