Nokia moves on without its phones under new CEO Rajeev Suri

Where ever the future of Nokia lies, starting on May 1st it will get there under the leadership of new CEO Rajeev Suri. Known to be on the short list of candidates, he's been with the company for over 20 years and took over as CEO of Nokia Solutions & Networks (aka Nokia Siemens, now renamed just "Networks") in 2009 -- experience that will prove relevant to the first of three focus points for Nokia going forward. Besides expanding its Networks business, Nokia is also investing in its Here services for location and mapping, and Technologies, which will license out its existing patents and develop new tech. Nokia is forming a whole new executive structure with other executive moves, as interim CEO Risto Siilasmaa goes back to his role as solely Chairman of the Board of Directors and Michael Halbherr takes over as CEO of Here. In a video address (embedded after the break), Suri says he anticipates that coming changes in tech "will be as profound as the creation of the internet," and sees opportunities in front of Nokia that are "as great as I have ever seen."

Now that the sale of "substantially all" of its Devices & Services business to Microsoft is complete, the remaining portions of Nokia will focus on broader problems for the telecom industry. We've seen hints at what else Nokia is capable of in the development and application of its Here mapping technology, which the company says can be found "in four out of five cars in North America and Europe with integrated in-dash navigation." There's even time for a shot at Google, as Suri points out that "Our view is that only one other company has location services that come close to the depth and breadth of those from HERE - and HERE has the advantage of being independent from any operating system or single business model" To develop new tech, it's seeking out external inventors through the "Invent with Nokia" program, and its Networks business counts 90 of the world's top 100 phone companies among its customers. The new company will continue to operate under the Nokia brand, and we'll be watching closely to see what its post-Lumia trajectory is like.