Anssi Vanjoki follows Kallasvuo out of Nokia

Anssi Vanjoki, the Nokia executive in charge of smartphones and services, is resigning following the appointment of outsider Stephen Elop as CEO of the world’s largest mobile phone maker.

Vanjoki had been considered the internal choice to succeed Kallasvuo

Vanjoki, who joined Nokia in 1991 has been head of Mobile Solutions since 2008, and has a six-month notice period. He will continue with his current tasks for the time being, Nokia said in a statement today.

“I felt the time has come to seek new opportunities in my life,” said Vanjoki, who had been considered the most likely internal candidate to replace CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo.

Last week Nokia announced it was pushing Kallasvuo out in favour of Elop, a Microsoft executive with Silicon Valley experience.

After four years in charge, Kallasvuo will step down on September 21. Elop will be expected to improve Nokia’s fortunes in the smartphone arena where it has been viewed as not being as nimble as Apple and Google in this space.

Nokia’s chairman, Jorma Ollila, who led Nokia during its glorious transformation to become the world’s leading mobile handset manufacturer in the 1990s said he would step down after helping with the CEO management change.