Telecom equipment industry veterans are aiming to submit their resume to Nokia in the wake of news reports about Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark.
Today’s Financial Times report said Nokia, the leading telecom equipment maker, is looking for a new chief executive officer (CEO) in order to replace the 61-year old Pekka Lundmark. Nokia has appointed Pekka Lundmark as CEO in 2020.
Nokia said it is not undertaking a process to replace President and CEO Pekka Lundmark, Reuters news report said.
“The Board fully supports President and CEO Pekka Lundmark and is not undergoing a process to replace him,” Nokia said in a statement to Reuters.
Nokia’s annual report has indicated that Pekka Lundmark will receive a salary increase of 8.5 percent in 2024. In 2023, Pekka Lundmark has received annual salary of 3,738,560 euros as compared with 4,316,606 euros in 2022. Pekka Lundmark did not even look for a salary increase in 2023.
Finland-based Nokia said it continuously assesses and discusses the leadership team’s long-term succession plan through a comprehensive approach that covers internal and external candidates, and that its CEO and Chair are fully aware of the process.
Nokia is not doing well in 2024 considering its conditions in the telecom equipment market. Last year, Nokia has lost a big business contract with AT&T. Ericsson won the deal.
Nokia’s total revenue dropped 11 percent in 2023 to 22.258 billion euros from 24.911 billion euros in 2022. Communication service providers, its main target, contributed revenue of 17.652 billion euros last year vs 19.921 billion euros in 2022. Nokia’s profit fell to EUR 660 million in 2023 from EUR 4 201 million in 2022.
“Despite the challenging market environment in 2023, we delivered a resilient financial performance, made progress on our strategy, and continued to create world-leading technology,” Pekka Lundmark said in Nokia 2023 annual report.
Who can replace Pekka Lundmark?
If Nokia decides to find a replacement for Pekka Lundmark within its own business, Nokia will find several candidates.
Nokia’s leadership team includes Nishant Batra (Chief Strategy and Technology Officer), Ricky Corker (Chief Customer Experience Officer), Federico Guillen (President of Network Infrastructure), Amy Hanlon-Rodemich (Chief People Officer), Jenni Lukander (President of Nokia Technologies), Esa Niinimaki (Chief Legal Officer), Raghav Sahgal (President of Cloud and Network Services), Melissa Schoeb (Chief Corporate Affairs Officer), Tommi Uitto (President of Mobile Networks) and Marco Wiren (Chief Financial Officer).
In August, Nokia reported a 32 percent drop in second-quarter operating profit, citing weak demand for 5G telecom equipment, but said sales should recover towards the end of 2024 with the help of orders from North America.
Recently, Nokia has denied a news report that said Samsung Electronics is looking to buy the mobile infrastructure business.
Baburajan Kizhakedath
