Nokia rubbished a Financial Times (FT) report indicating it had started a process to find a new CEO, stating the board fully supports current boss Pekka Lundmark (pictured).

FT reported yesterday (12 September) Nokia had approached candidates about replacing Lundmark and at least one head-hunter had been appointed to run the process, with the change prompted by stagnating sales, a depressed share price and shareholder frustration over Lundmark’s failure to raise revenue.

Nokia denied the report, stating it was not undergoing a process to replace Lundmark.

It did, however, add it continuously assesses and discusses the leadership team’s ongoing success plan “through a comprehensive approach that covers internal and external candidates”.

“This is the same process for our chair and board of directors. For this work we also use the help of professional advisers. Our CEO and chair are fully aware and involved in this process.”

Notably, the report also stated Nokia is looking for a new chair to replace Sari Baldauf, who is apparently a close ally of Lundmark.

Turnaround
Lundmark was appointed CEO in 2020 and was tasked with turning around the Finnish vendor’s fortunes following a turbulent period during which it lost out on several major contracts, fell behind on delivering 5G networks and struggled to compete with rivals Huawei and Ericsson.

He implemented a major strategic overhaul, which included a renewed focus on R&D and a cost cutting programme.

While he was able to steady the ship, the company reported an 18 per cent drop in sales in Q2, blaming weakness in the mobile sector.

Chief rival Ericsson also secured a big money Open RAN contract with US operator AT&T in late 2023, in what was a major blow to the Finnish vendor.

Most recently, speculation emerged that a deal could be in the works for Nokia to sell its mobile assets to Samsung, but each company played down the rumours.