Former Rovio CEO to lead Nokia brand’s return to market

Earlier this year, it was announced that new firm HMD Global would be bringing the Nokia name back to the smartphone world.

At the time, HMD Global said it would be using the Nokia name for smartphones and tablets and that these devices would be running Android.

The company already has several high-profile executives, but you can add another one to the list, in the form of ex-Rovio Entertainment CEO Pekka Rantala. The executive, who was also a senior vice-president of global marketing at Nokia, is now the chief marketing officer at HMD Global, the company announced.

Rantala has 17-years of experience at Nokia, before making the move to the Angry Birds creator.

“Pekka has an important mission to rejuvenate the Nokia brand in mobile phones. He is an experienced consumer marketer who knows how to run global operations and teams, and is passionate about the Nokia brand. Branding has become a critical differentiator in mobile phones, and 96% of global mobile phone users are familiar with the Nokia brand, our unique asset. We know people around the world are excited about a new wave of Nokia phones, and we are working hard to create a beautiful range of Nokia-branded devices that people will love,” HMD CEO Arto Nummela said.

As part of the Nokia branding deal, Foxconn subsidiary FIH Mobile will be manufacturing the devices.

“HMD has full operational control over sales, marketing and distribution of its Nokia-branded devices, with exclusive access to the pre-eminent global sales and distribution network being acquired by FIH from Microsoft,” the company explained.

The deal will also see Microsoft selling its feature phone unit to FIH Mobile and HMD Global, including a manufacturing plant in Vietnam.

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