Oistamo to Head Nokia's Mobile Phones Unit

Reuters covers the appointment of Kai Oistamo to head Nokia's mobile phone division. According to a Nokia company statement, Oistamo replaces Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, who will become Nokia's president and chief operating officer on Oct. 1. Oistamo currently heads up business line management in the divison, which produces the company's mass-market handsets.

Richard Windsor at Nomura Securities, said, "What he's brilliant at is operations. He's been able to sort out logistics and supply (in the division)." Oistamo sounds like he is from the same mold as his boss, Kallasvuo.

According to Mats Nystrom, of Enskila Securities, "The focus will be down to nuts and bolts, to squeeze every cent out of the entry-level products. Few people would expect a major shift in strategy from them, but rather a really clear focus on costs."

On Nokia''s efforts to combat the challenge of its competitiors popular designs, such as Motorola's Razr V3, Windsor said Nokia " still needs to come up with something ... (truly) iconic, to capture the imagination of the market. That's something that's an issue for all the divisions, not just Mobile Phones."