The top mobile solutions executive at Nokia resigned Monday, not four days after the beleaguered worldwide mobile phone leader named a new CEO.
Anssi Vanjoki, executive vice president of Nokia's mobile solutions business and also a board member, will leave the company in six months. The move was confirmed by Nokia Monday, following last week's announcement that the company would replace CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo with Stephen Elop, currently the head of Microsoft's Business Division.
Vanjoki heads up Nokia's higher-end mobile phone business, whose smartphones are seen as lagging behind Apple's iPhone and a host of hot phones running Google's Android mobile OS.
"I felt the time has come to seek new opportunities in my life," said Vanjoki in a brief statement released by Nokia. "At the same time, I am one hundred percent committed to doing my best for Nokia until my very last working day. I am also really looking forward to this year's Nokia World and sharing news about exciting new devices and solutions."
Nokia's Symbian OS remains the top mobile platform, but Nokia has made two profit warnings this year, its stock has declined more than 20 percent, and its worldwide lead in mobile phone market share continues to erode.
Nokia has already shaken up its mobile business team once this year, adding Sun Microsystems veteran Rich Green as CTO and ousting former Mobile Phones group head Rick Simonson. And while it's continued to release flashy smartphones, including the long-awaited Nokia N8, smartphone success for Nokia in the North American market, especially the U.S., has proven elusive.
Nokia's longtime board chairman and former CEO, Jorma Ollila, may also depart the company in 2012, according to The New York Times, part of what some analysts said will be a full transformation of Nokia's executive management.
