MS mobile phone chief quits

Lucas van Grinsven

AMSTERDAM: US. software maker Microsoft said that the executive in charge of its mobile devices software business is leaving the company.

Danish national, Juha Christensen, 39, who joined Microsoft some four years ago to breathe new life into what was then a fledgling business for handheld computer systems, has turned Microsoft into a major player in mobile software, signing deals with global telecoms operators and cell phone producers.

Christensen, who declined comment, will leave Microsoft by the end of this month, a spokeswoman for Microsoft Mobile in London said. He will pursue other opportunities in wireless communications, according to a source close to Christensen.

"We are sad to see Juha Christensen leave Microsoft. He has brought great understanding of the market and strategic insight into what Microsoft can do to build a great business," Microsoft said in a statement.

Microsoft identified the telecoms industry as the next growth opportunity after it had come to dominate the business of software for personal computers and computer servers. The software market for mobile phones, of which some 460 million units will be sold this year, looked particularly interesting.

The U.S. company was initially ridiculed by many telecoms players when then-Chief Executive Bill Gates announced the firm's ambitions some four years ago. The telecoms industry needed to provide a level of reliability, many thought Microsoft software was incapable of delivering.

"It was all jokes about where the Control-Alt-Delete button (which reboots a frozen PC) would be on a Microsoft cell phone," said one telecoms consultant who declined to be named.

Under Christensen, who came from mobile software rival Symbian which is owned by four of the five biggest handset makers, Microsoft not only grew in the 20 million units a year handheld computer industry, but also signed up major mobile telecoms carriers.

Operators such as France's Orange, Britain's MMO2 and Germany's T-Mobile all agreed to develop their own Microsoft phones, which offer email, music, calendars and other data services alongside voice calls.

He convinced Asian contract manufacturers and second-tier cell-phone makers such as Taiwan's High Tech Computer and MiTAC, and China's TCL to produce the phones.

This year, Christensen managed to pull in a real trophy when the world's No. 2 handset maker Motorola unveiled its first Microsoft-based mobile phone. Microsoft's market share in cell-phone software is still small, but is expected to grow on the back of the deals that were put in place last year.

"He's established Microsoft as a real player in the mobile industry. He's clinched deals with many major operators and helped put Asian companies on the map nobody had heard about two years ago. Obviously he feels he has done the interesting bit, and is ready to move on," said the source close to Christensen.

Reuters