Nokia appoints Rajeev Suri CEO and outlines strategy

Nokia board of directors has appointed Rajeev Suri as president and CEO of Nokia Corporation, effective May 1, 2014. Suri joined Nokia in 1995 and has held a wide range of leadership positions in the company. Since October of 2009, he has served as CEO of NSN, the former joint venture between Nokia and Siemens that is now fully owned by Nokia. During his tenure as CEO, that business went through a radical transformation.

Risto Siilasmaa, chairman of the Nokia board, and who has also been serving as an interim CEO, will return to focusing exclusively on his role as chairman as of May 1, 2014.

Long-term leadership targeted in three key areas

Nokia believes that over the next 10 years billions of connected devices will converge into intelligent and programmable systems that will have the potential to improve lives in a vast number of areas: time and availability, transportation and resource consumption, learning and work, health and wellness, and many more.

This new world of technology will require 1) connectivity capable of handling massive numbers of devices and exponential increases in data traffic; 2) location services that seamlessly bridge between the real and virtual worlds; and 3) innovation, including in sensing, radio and low power technologies. Nokia’s vision is to be a leader over the long term in these three areas.

Nokia strategy

"Nokia’s strategy is to develop its three businesses in order to realise its vision of being a technology leader in a connected world and, in turn, create long-term shareholder value. Nokia will target the creation of long-term shareholder value by focusing on the following three areas:

Through its Networks business (formerly Nokia Solutions and Networks, or NSN), Nokia will invest in the innovative products and services needed by telecom operators to manage the increase in wireless data traffic, which is more than doubling every year. Future investment will focus on further building on the company’s strong position in mobile broadband and related services, and strengthening its leadership position in next-generation network technologies.

Through its HERE business, Nokia will invest to further develop its location cloud to make it the leading source of location intelligence and experiences across many different operating systems, platforms and screens. Given that location is an essential element of a connected world, Nokia will target its investment in three areas: 1) technology for smart, connected cars; 2) cloud-based services for personal mobility and location intelligence, including for the growing segment of wearables and special purpose devices; and 3) location-based analytics for better business decisions.

Through its Technologies business, Nokia will invest in the further development of its industry-leading innovation portfolio. This will include 1) expanding the successful intellectual property licensing program; 2) helping other companies and organisations benefit from Nokia’s breakthrough innovations through technology licensing; and 3) exploring new technologies for use in potential future products and services.