Qualcomm hires former HMD and Nokia CEO

Juho Sarvikas has joined chip designer Qualcomm. Sarvikas worked until recently at HMD Global, where he was initially responsible for the products released by the Nokia licensee. Sarvikas previously worked at Nokia.

Sarvikas left last month at HMD Global and then it was unknown where he was going. Qualcomm announces now that the CEO has been recruited and assumes the role of VP & President for the North America Division. It is unknown what exactly he will do at Qualcomm.

Attracting the CEO who has a lot of experience with consumer products could be related to steps Qualcomm wants to take in the consumer market. According to a recent rumor, the chipmaker is working on an Android handheld console that would look like the Nintendo Switch.

Sarvikas has worked for Nokia since 2006. He started there as a product manager and then held various management positions in product-oriented departments. When Nokia was acquired by Microsoft, he continued to work there. In 2016, Sarvikas was one of the former Nokia employees who founded HMD Global. That company releases smartphones under the Nokia brand name. He started there as chief product officer.