Just ahead of next week’s Nokia World, Nokia today announced that it has appointed Stephen Elop as its next President and Chief Executive Officer effective September 21st.
“The time is right to accelerate the company’s renewal; to bring in new executive leadership with different skills and strengths in order to drive company success. The Nokia Board believes that Stephen has the right industry experience and leadership skills to realize the full potential of Nokia. His strong software background and proven record in change management will be valuable assets as we press harder to complete the transformation of the company. We believe that Stephen will be able to drive both innovation and efficient execution of the company strategy in order to deliver increased value to our shareholders,” said Jorma Ollila, Chairman of the Nokia Board of Directors.
Nokia has recently struggled and issued two profit warnings this year as its leadership in the market has come under fire from companies such as Apple and Google.
Elop (a Canadian by the way) currently heads Microsoft’s Business Division. He has also held senior executive positions at Juniper Networks, Adobe Systems, and Macromedia.
Today’s conspiracy: Isn’t HP looking for a new CEO?