Rajeev Suri to step down as Nokia CEO, Pekka Lundmark to take over

Finnish telecommunications company Nokia on March 1 announced that it’s Chief Executive Officer Rajeev Suri will step down in September and Pekka Lundmark would be appointed in his place. Lundmark is currently the CEO of energy group Fortum. Suri had taken over the top job in 2014 and will be stepping down at the end of the year. He is a graduate of Manipal Institute of Technology and had taken over the erstwhile giant in the mobile handset industry at a time that it was trying trying to keep hold of its mobile networks equipment business under serious competition from Huawei.

 “With the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent behind us and the world of 5G in front of us, I am pleased that Pekka has agreed to join Nokia,” Nokia Chairman Risto Siilasmaa said in a public statement released on March 1. According to reports, Lundmark held multiple executive positions at Nokia since 1990 and 2000, including the vice president of Strategy and business development at Nokia Networks. Read: Sony Raises Forecast Despite Lagging Video-game Business

Coronavirus forces Nokia dropout

Last month, Nokia dropped out of one of the world's biggest technology fairs over worries over the deadly coronavirus. The Finnish technology company told a news agency that it had decided to withdraw from Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain “after a full assessment of the risks related to a fast-moving situation.”

Read: Nokia Latest To Drop Out Of Mobile Tech Fair Over Virus

The company said it believes it is making a “prudent decision” to cancel and that it's “primary focus” is to safeguard the health and well-being of employees. Nokia was the latest in a string of tech companies to pull out of the event. Ericsson, Amazon, Sony, LG, Cisco and Intel have already decided not to attend. Mobile World Congress, the world's biggest trade fair for the wireless and mobile industry, was expected to attract more than 100,000 visitors, including 5,000-6,000 from China. Meanwhile, the deadly virus has killed over 3,000 people and infected nearly 88,000 people across the globe with the majority in mainland China, international media reported. 

Read: Untitled Marvel Movie By Sony Gets A Release Date For 2021; Here's What We Know

Read: Amid Coronavirus Dread, Sony And Intel Withdraw From Mobile World Congress

(With inputs from News agencies)