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Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo likes iPhone!

By Amarendra Bhushan for CEOWORLD Magazine Updated:October 2, 2008 Become a writer!

Nokia needs to make sure it’s developers start making the kind of money that iPhone developers make. There’s a reason that Apple will make a killing in the mobile markets and all other handset makers won’t – it’s that Apple will get a cut of almost every piece software sold on all iPhones.

Nokia President and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo was interviews in California and spoke candidly about is new competition: “Suddenly you have the mightiest companies in the world there as your competitors. That is a little mind-boggling”. On Google: “They are a newcomer here. I think the jury is still out: What is the new thing they bring here?”… on Apple: “”We have a new, credible competitor in this business. You know I need to take my hat off”. And what the iPhone has done for the mobile phone industry: “a big favor”.

“Suddenly you have the mightiest companies in the world there as your competitors. That is a little mind-boggling,” Kallasvuo said in an on-stage interview at the Churchill Club, a speakers’ forum for Silicon Valley civic leaders. Using music as an example, Kallasvuo said some Nokia handsets have long been capable of playing music. But the process for getting tunes on the handset could be frustrating, or mobile music services weren’t living up to expectations.

Lots of people use iTunes every day, so it’s easier to get people to browse applications. Nokia software on the other hand has few reasons to use it casually, so a slick AppStore type interface is going to be harder to pull off. I know you can buy stuff online for Nokia phones, but I think people mentally prefer just to use a thick client.

Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo Profile:

President and CEO of Nokia Corporation
Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo is the President and CEO of Nokia. Olli-Pekka joined Nokia in 1980 and has held roles of increasing responsibility since that time. On October 1, 2005 Kallasvuo was named President and COO before being appointed to his current position. He holds a masters degree in law from the University of Helsinki. He has been a member of the Group Executive Board of Nokia since 1990.

Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Nokia as of June 1, 2006.
Olli-Pekka joined Nokia in 1980 as Corporate Counsel, and has held roles of increasing responsibility since that time. In 1987 he was appointed Assistant Vice President, Legal Department, and in 1988 he was named Assistant Vice President, Finance. In 1990 he was promoted to Senior Vice President, Finance.

In 1992, Olli-Pekka was named Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. In 1997-1998 he served as Corporate Executive Vice President, Nokia Americas, being responsible for all Nokia’s business operations in the Americas. He returned to the position of Chief Financial Officer at the beginning of 1999, the position he had held prior to moving to the United States. From 2004-2005 Kallasvuo was Executive Vice President and General Manager of Mobile Phones. On October 1, 2005 he was named President and COO before his appointment to the current position.

Olli-Pekka has been a member of the Group Executive Board of Nokia since 1990. On April 1, 2007, Olli-Pekka was appointed Chairman of the Board of Nokia Siemens Networks. He also serves on the Board of EMC Corporation, the world-leading American information storage and management company. Kallasvuo was nominated as member of the Board of Directors of Nokia in May 2007.

He holds a master’s degree in law from the University of Helsinki. Prior to joining Nokia, Olli-Pekka held a variety of positions with the Union Bank of Finland.

Olli-Pekka was born on July 13, 1953, in Lavia, Finland. In his spare time, he enjoys golf, tennis and reading about political history.

LL.M. (University of Helsinki).

President and COO of Nokia Corporation 2005-2006, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Mobile Phones 2004-2005, Executive Vice President, CFO of Nokia 1999-2003, Executive Vice President of Nokia Americas and President of Nokia Inc. 1997-1998, Executive Vice President, CFO of Nokia 1992-1996, Senior Vice President, Finance of Nokia 1990-1991.

Member of the Board of Directors of EMC Corporation.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nokia Siemens Networks B.V.