Phone
Now, he has to use those skills to persuade investors Nokia stock is still a “buy,” after the worlds biggest mobile-phone maker lost 6 points of smart-phone market share in three months and posted its first quarterly net loss, while rival Apple had its most profitable quarter. The 43-year-old sales executive takes over as chief financial officer on Nov 1.
“Nokia has struggled,” said Andy Perkins, an analyst at Societe Generale in London, who recommends selling Nokia shares. “Apple is an extremely serious threat just because of the excellence of the iPhone, which has really captured peoples imagination.”
Nokias market share in smart phones with advanced features such as Internet browsers fell in the three months to 35 percent from 41 percent, as it posted a 559 million-euro ($834 million) loss, the company said Oct. 15. Nokia has lost 20 percent this year in Helsinki trading, while Apple has gained 140 percent. The iPhone, carried by AT&T since its debut in the U.S. in 2007, has been the symbol of cool among consumer handsets.
In his new role, Ihamuotila has to figure out how to better use Nokias resources to fight Apple and Research In Motion Ltd.s BlackBerry at the top of the market and Chinese phone makers that sell products for as little as $20. His tenure in sales shows he will probably take an active role in showing investors Nokia is a serious contender to take on Apple and RIM in smart phones, the industrys fastest-growing market.
Good Fit
“This is a guy whos been out there with some of Nokias biggest customers and understands their requirements and their disappointments within the last year or so,” said Ben Wood, a London-based industry analyst with CCS Insight, whos met Ihamuotila at company events. “Hes a good fit.”
Ihamuotila, a former Citibank derivatives salesman whose family members have run three Finnish companies and include a former agriculture minister, wasnt available to comment since he hasnt started in the new job yet, spokeswoman Arja Suominen said. Suominen declined to comment further, saying it was against company policy to discuss individuals.
Since becoming sales chief in April 2007, Ihamuotila has focused on making Espoo-based Nokia more open to changes from carriers, which resell handsets and have complained that the company was unwilling to let them customize the high-end phones with their own logos and software.
AT&T Deal
Nokia this year introduced the 7705 Twist, a square phone marketed by Verizon Communications Inc. Ihamuotila helped reach a deal in April with AT&T to offer Nokias first smart phone with a Qwerty keyboard in the U.S. This month, Nokia signed an agreement with AT&T, Microsoft Corp. and retailer Best Buy Co. to sell the new Booklet 3G mini-laptop in the U.S.
“Only now is Nokia seriously willing to listen to AT&T,” said Tero Kuittinen, an analyst at Greenwich, Connecticut-based MKM Partners LLC. “AT&T demands a high level of customization and co-branding, more than European carriers Nokia is used to working with.”
“The relationship has deepened in the sense that we are not only talking about handsets but we are also talking about the relationship on the services side,” said Nils Katla, Telenors Nordic region vice president.
Risk Management
Spokesmen for Verizon, Vodafone Plc, Deutsche Telekom AG and TeliaSonera AB declined to comment for this story. Mike Woodward, a vice president at AT&Ts wireless division, said he couldnt comment on Nokias executives.
Ihamuotila started in Nokias risk management department in 1993 and left the company three years later. He rejoined in 1999, serving as treasurer, head of finance and strategic development in the U.S. and sales chief. During his U.S. stint, he lived for three years in San Diego.
Nokia had a strategy of developing phones for the U.S. market that worked well in the late 90s, Ihamuotila said in a video interview with bloggers at a company event last month. Early this decade the company shifted to developing products for Europe and then trying to sell them in the U.S.
“We just simply have not been responsive enough in the U.S.,” he said. “When we come up with new U.S.-specific products, the market has already moved. The market has moved the fastest in the U.S.”
Apple Rises