“I felt the time has come to seek new opportunities in my life,” Anssi Vanjoki says. “At the same time, I am one hundred per cent 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.”
In response to news of Vanjoki’s resignation, Gartner vice president and analyst Nick Jones said, “I wish Anssi well in his next job, wherever it is; he’s an excellent executive and will be a real asset to another mobile company. Steve Elop doesn’t have a mobile industry background so he will have to rely heavily on his executive team to address Nokia’s challenges. In a sense Steve is the man whose job is to hire or promote the people who will fix Nokia. Anssi is the first change in the executive team but I don’t think he will be the last. In the webcast that announced Steve’s appointment Jorma Olilla said that several internal and external candidates had been considered, so there may be more resignations to come. This is an area I will watch closely because Steve’s re-organisations and appointments over the next few months will give us the first clues about the type of company Nokia will become,” said Mr Jones.
