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Nokia execs reshuffled in Microsoft-centered Elopcalypse
Pardon us while we catch our breath... Nokia's bombshell of an announcement's going to require some serious internal tinkering to execute upon the new strategy. As such, there's a big-time reorganization effort being kicked off today in order to accelerate the company towards its new goals. Here are some of the highlights: Nokia's "applications and content store" (Ovi) will be integrated into Microsoft Marketplace Nokia Maps will be at the heart of Microsoft's Bing and AdCenter Microsoft will provide developer tools to Nokia (So no Qt?) Symbian is now described as a "franchise platform" with Nokia planning to sell 150 million Symbian devices into the future MeeGo emphasis will be on longer-term exploration with plans to ship "a MeeGo-related product" later this year (not products) The new leadership team that will drive the effort consists of Stephen Elop, Esko Aho, Juha Akras, Jerri DeVard, Colin Giles, Rich Green, Jo Harlow, Timo Ihamuotila, Mary McDowell, Kai Oistamo, Tero Ojanpera, Louise Pentland and Niklas Savander. Unsurprisingly, Alberto Torres, former head of MeeGo, has quit. Here are some of the key execs: Jo Harlow becomes the gal at the center of the Nokia's Elopcalypse with Smart Devices responsibility for Symbian smartphones, "MeeGo Computers," and Strategic Business Operations. Mary McDowell will drive the Mobile Phones division focusing on growth markets. Marko Ahtisaari will lead up design efforts Tero Ojanpera will lead Services and Developer Experience Niklas Savendar owns Markets Rich Green will head the CTO Office responsible for Nokia's technology strategy and related forward-looking activities So really, Nokia is maintaining most of its executive staff, unlike the rumors coming into today.
Nokia reports improved earnings for Q3 2010, will still 'streamline' up to 1,800 employees out of a job
Nokia's quarterly results have just been made public and the company's devices plus services sector has actually improved its income relative to last year: €7.2b of revenue was collected over the past three months versus €6.9b in the same period a year ago. Operating profit has also pepped up, going from the previous €785m to €807m. You'd think this would augur well for Stephen Elop's beginning at the helm, but the new man in charge is also presiding over a fundamental restructuring of operations at Nokia, which is expected to result in the redundancy of up to 1,800 employees globally. There are no specifics to tell us who'll be losing out, but the aims are the boilerplate tasks of increasing efficiency, simplifying operations, and reducing time to market. Anyway, we doubt the great people of Finland will be pleased.
Nokia reshuffles management looking for gold
We're not alone in grumbling about Nokia. Investors are miffed -- to put it gently -- over Nokia's inability to ignite the industry (and profits) with innovative, high-margin handset sales since the launch of Apple's iPhone some three years ago. And let's not forget about that feisty upstart Google, Microsoft's revamped Windows Phone OS, or HP's new-found love for mobile devices. Investor unrest was made clear last week as Nokia shareholders gave CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo an earful. But as slow moving as Nokia can be, it's not immune to the situation by any stretch. Following up on its announcement to combine services and devices, we now have details about Nokia's planned re-org, the second in seven months. The goal, as described by OPK, is as follows: "Nokia's new organizational structure is designed to speed up execution and accelerate innovation, both short-term and longer-term." The heat will be on Anssi Vanjoki (pictured) to deliver as he'll be assuming responsibility for the Mobile Solutions group on July 1st. That gives him direct control of Nokia's MeeGo Computers (led by Alberto Torres), Symbian Smartphones (headed by Jo Harlow), and Ovi Services (led by Tero Ojanpera) -- the holy trifecta that interests us the most. Mary McDowell will head the Mobile Phones unit while Niklas Savander will head up the Markets unit. The loser in all of this appears to be Richard Simonson, the former CFO currently leading the Mobile Phones unit, but soon to be retired. Full press release after the break.
Yahoo smites dedicated Mobile group
As mocoNews points out, Google CEO Eric Schmidt made a fascinating (if not obvious) observation at his MWC keynote last month: for his company, mobile's now the primary focus while the desktop plays a secondary role. Yahoo seems to be reaching a similar conclusion on news that it has officially broken up its Mobile unit, instead moving mobile-focused employees into other divisions within the organization -- in other words, mobile will become integral to every group rather than an afterthought pushed to a separate set of bodies. Yahoo's been playing second fiddle to Google and Microsoft in this game -- understandably so, considering both of its biggest competitors have their own mobile operating systems -- but it remains to be seen how big of an impact this'll have. Defaulting an Android-powered phone to Yahoo search is a good start, we suppose.
Sony shuffles gaming organizations: so long, SCE, hello new SCE
We're not exactly sure what Sir Stringer is up to with this one, but Sony has now announced a reorganization plan for its gaming-related divisions that should make a few heads spin but ultimately end up with most employees staying where they are. The short of it is that Sony Computer Entertainment will be renamed the "SNE Platform" (or SNEP, for added hilarity), and that Sony's video game business (previously part of SCE) will be transferred to a new division called -- you guessed it -- Sony Computer Entertainment. SNEP will then be responsible for Sony's network business (including PSN, it seems), but only until April 1st, at which point SNEP will simply be dissolved into Sony. The goal of all this, according to Sony, is to "strengthen the network business within the Sony Group," but the company is otherwise staying pretty mum on specifics.
Sony reorganization shuffles names, but doesn't mess with the games
You ready? Okay -- follow along: Sony announced today that the Sony Computer Entertainment subsidiary will change its name to SNE Platform (or "SNEP"), and then transfer its video game operations to a new subsidiary, named -- surprise! -- Sony Computer Entertainment. On April 1, SNEP, which will be primarily operating Sony's network services and business as a wholly-owned subsidiary, will merge with Sony, and then promptly dissolve into the parent company. Since Sony already owns all shares of SNEP, there's not going to be any market action (issuance of new shares, share capital increases or cash payments) upon the merger. So, wait, what's happening? Essentially, Sony is moving its network business out from under the gaming wing and bringing it up to the parent company level. This is a different path than the one laid out a year ago, which suggested SCE, as then operator of the network business (think: PSN), would begin to play a larger role in the unification of the company as it pertains to an online strategy. Instead, the "new" Sony Computer Entertainment will have a slightly more narrow focus, "mainly consisting of the planning, development, manufacturing and sales of home-use/portable game consoles and software," according to the reorganization announcement; and Sony Online Service, including the proposed expansion of PSN IDs to non-gaming Sony devices, will seemingly be handled by a new division (but possibly the same personnel) within the Sony parent company. Though listed as the "Representative Director" of the short-lived SNEP subsidiary, Kaz Hirai will presumably remain in charge of the PlayStation division now and after the April 1 merger. Sub-divisions SCEA and SCEE are unaffected by the reorganziation.
AMD reorganizes, ATI now fully assimilated
It looks like the final step in AMD totally subsuming ATI has been taken. The company announced a reorganization around four specific pillars: products, future techology, marketing, and customer relations. The restructuring also marks the end of Randy Allen's tenure, as the SVP of the Computing Solutions Group has decided to leave for unspecified reasons. ATI holdover Rick Bergman, who had also be head of the subsidiary known internally as the Graphics Product Group, will head up the products division with the goal of unifying the GPU and CPU teams (not necessarily the products). We highly doubt this means ATI branding is going anywhere -- it's far too valuable for AMD. Will Bergman's lead help the company reclaim its position among the top ten chip makers? Give Fusion the kick in the pants it needs? Only time will tell.
AT&T reorganizes, Ralph De La Vega now in charge of consumer services
The internals of AT&T's org chart aren't really hot news, but the company just reshuffled all its consumer services into a new division headed by Ralph De La Vega, who used to head up AT&T Wireless. Ralph now also oversees internet, TV and landline phones in addition to wireless, so he's got a bunch more on his plate -- the goal is be more aggressive bundling up more quadruple-play packages, which hopefully means lower pricing. We'll see -- we've heard these promises before.
Palm axes some jobs
In the wake of Palm's sale of a quarter stake to Elevation Partners, the company is axing an unspecified number of jobs in an effort to flatten its "organizational hierarchy." Though it wouldn't specify how many jobs were getting cut, they're apparently in the development group (from a casual observer's perspective, development seems like the wrong place to cut jobs when your best-selling products are mildly tweaked versions of years-old designs, but we're just bloggers -- what do we know?). For what it's worth, Palm points out that the cuts are just the final stages of a reorganization that's been in the works for some time now and predates the Elevation deal. No faith that you're gonna need engineers around for a Foleo 2, guys?[Via the::unwired]
