Nokia said it appointed Chris Weber, 46, a consultant and Microsoft veteran, as its new head of North America, replacing Mark Louison, who has decided to leave the company. Weber spent 16 years with Microsoft, holding positions in sales, marketing and professional services, the Finnish mobile phone giant said today in a statement.
His appointment comes amid other executive changes at Nokia as part of a sweeping new strategy announced Friday in London by CEO Steven Elop, who is also a Microsoft alum. Alberto Torres, who oversaw software development, will also step down, Nokia said.
Weber's appointment is effective immediately. "We will work relentlessly on winning the trust of our customers and the hearts of our consumers," Weber said in a company statement. Weber currently runs his own consulting business focused on helping corporations develop "world class sales cultures," the statement said.
Earlier this week analysts said they expected Nokia to replace its R&D leadership and its North American sales head.
Nokia said its new executive leadership consists of:
-- Elop, president and CEO
-- Esko Aho, executive vice president, corporate relations and responsibility
-- Juha Akras, executive vice president, human resources
-- Jerri DeVard, executive vice president, chief marketing officer
-- Colin Giles, executive vice president, sales
-- Rich Green, chief technology officer
-- Jo Harlow, senior vice president, smartphones
-- Timo Ihamuotila, executive vice president, chief financial officer
-- Mary McDowell, executive vice president, mobile phones
-- Kai Oistamo, executive vice president, chief development officer
-- Tero Ojanpera, executive vice president, services, mobile solutions
-- Louise Pentland,
-- Niklas Savander, executive vice president, markets
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