Urpo Karjalainen appointed as Newkia CEO – first phone in development

The spin-off Newkia has appointed a CEO, Urpo Karjalainen, according to ZDNet. An ex-Nokian (and from BlackBerry), Karljalainen is described as “most accomplished mobile executive in Asia over the last 15 years…Under Urpo’s leadership, Asia became Nokia’s largest and most profitable market… No other mobile executive in Asia has the contacts, reach, and credibility among Asia’s mobile operators, distributors, and dealers that he has.”

Urpo may not have been a familiar name as he was SVP at Nokia China from 2001-2004, Asia Pacific VP and strategic manager as well as VP Sales Nokia Mobile Phones, 1997 – 1999.

Urpo believes Nokia would have gone a better path under Android and are moving rapidly towards development of their first phone (hopefully not just a generic Android box with Newkia on it).

Urpo said:

I see a huge opportunity for Newkia in the current market, and I am very excited to be part of creating something new built on Nokia’s incredible legacy. We are building a team that will carry forward the best know-how and qualities of phones that made Nokia the world-leading mobile phone brand for 14 years.

Source: ZDNet

Thanks edi for the tip!

Category: Nokia