Nokia announced that it is appointing Chris Weber to President of Nokia Inc. (US) and Head of Markets, North America. Chris Weber is a former Microsoft Executive who spent 16 years with the Redmond company heading up US enterprise sales and marketing. He will bring his sales and marketing experience as well as his Microsoft background to Nokia’s struggling North American business. According to CEO Stephen Elop, Nokia will remain a Finnish company, but this push into the North American market will be a continued focus of the company. Though it dominates international markets, the Finnish company has failed to make an in-road into North America, a market that is currently dominated by Android, iOS and BlackBerry.
Weber will replace current President Mark Louison who will leave Nokia for new career opportunities. Louison joined Nokia in 2004 as the Vice President and General Manager of Nokia’s AT&T Wireless account . He has held various positions within the company and was promoted to President of the North American arm of Nokia in April 2007. Weber will assume this new position and Louison will leave effective February 11, 2011. The full press release with the details of this executive leadership change is available on the second page.