HMD Global, a company which stands behind Nokia-branded smartphones, has revamped its organizational structure with fresh appointments and new responsibilities for some of its executives. The Finnish company announced today that it has named Florian Seiche as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on an official capacity following the sudden departure of its former CEO, Arto Nummela, from the company in July for unspecified reasons. Seiche was formerly the president of HMD Global and immediately assumed the CEO role following Nummela’s resignation.
Seiche’s appointment as the new CEO of HMD Global means that he is also joining the Espoo, Finland-based company’s global board of directors immediately. HMD Global’s chairman of the board, Sam Chin, noted in a press release published on the company’s website that Seiche had served as president of HMD Global since the company kicked off its operations, adding that his vast experience in co-leading the company’s global operations and marketing efforts makes him the ideal choice to become the CEO of the firm. In addition to Seiche’s appointment, HMD Global also expanded Pekka Rantala’s duties with the addition of the executive vice president position to his roles at the company. Rantala has been serving as the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of HMD Global, and his new role enables him to aid in planning the growth strategies for the company in support of Mr. Seiche.
HMD Global’s new organizational structure comes at a time when the company is aiming for a worldwide success of its Nokia-branded smartphones and feature phones, with India expected to be the harbinger of how well its products could perform in other markets. During a press event in New Delhi, Juho Sarvikas cited India as one of the markets the company intends to target with its new and future products. It now remains to be seen whether the new major management shift at HMD Global will bear any huge impact on the company’s global operations and new product strategy. The company is expected to announce a 4G feature phone in India in the future as well as a new Nokia-branded smartphone running the Android operating system by the end of this month, though details about the upcoming phone remain limited at the moment.