Viking-like Vanjoki to lead Nokia rebound

HELSINKI, FINLAND: A passion for basketball means Anssi Vanjoki knows the importance of strong rebounding and that's a skill his ailing employer badly needs.

He works for Nokia Oyj, the largest phone maker by volume, which this week revamped management and tapped Vanjoki to revive smartphone operations that have struggled to fend off rivals such as Apple Inc.

In 1996 Vanjoki was making history with one of the first cameraphones - a heavy Kodak camera with big cables attached to the first Nokia business phone.

"It was a fantastic experience from a technology point of view, but from the consumer's point of view it was a fantastically bad experience," Vanjoki said in a recent speech.

He faces a similar dilemma as chief of Nokia's new main business unit as Nokia phones still compete with rivals technologically but consumers are fleeing to easier-to-use iPhone and Google phones.

Aside from backing Nokia's ill-fated push into mobile gaming, Vanjoki has a strong track record at Nokia.

He created the brand from scratch in the 1990s and turned it into one of the biggest global names. He was also behind picking the Nokia tune -- the world's most widely used piece of music.

From 2004 Vanjoki lead Nokia's profitable multimedia business unit and introduced the N-series range of smartphones which controlled the market well into 2008 when Apple's iPhone distribution grew significantly.

In 2006 he launched the N95, Nokia's last hit smartphone, and is still the main speaker at key product launches.

"Great that Anssi Vanjoki is back in product charge. His vision, energy and consequence can take it up with anybody! Bring it on," tweeted Udo Szabo, a senior executive at Nokia's services business.

His next challenge are "mobile computers" -- he is convinced we will all soon have small computers in our pockets that remain connected, analysing what we do and making our life easier.

A head Above?

The viking-like Vanjoki stands well over 6 feet tall and has long seemed to tower over other Nokia leaders, his snappy one-liners a contrast to the down-to-earth nature of most Finnish engineers.

"I have an opinion, and it's such a strong opinion, you should take it as a fact," a former colleague has quoted him as saying.

Asked once about the merger between Siemens Mobile and Taiwan's BenQ, he replied: "Two turkeys don't make an eagle".

Frustrated with too much time spent on strategy, he once replaced sign on his office door with one which read "Implementation Department".

And it's that can-do attitude which he now needs to apply to a business unit that combines smartphone manufacturing and services, a role where he has to do something about the fact that Google,  Apple are driving innovation in wireless technology.

Looking for Innovation

Once rumoured to be in line to head the Finnish Basketball Union and father to two sons who play in the top local league, Vanjoki will manage for Jo Harlow, head of Nokia's Symbian phone business.

The two share a passion for the game as Harlow is former captain of Duke University's women's basketball team.

"Without a vision you cannot see passion, and without passion there are no innovations," says Vanjoki.

Last month he predicted the development of cameraphones would make even professional cameras obsolete, sparking heated debate around the world and creation of a new word - "vanjoking".

Analysts say the company needs bigger changes than a cosmetic revamp and see the controversial Vanjoki as someone who can help.

"They need someone who's got the passion. I would not call Anssi Vanjoki an evangelist, but when he opens his mouth he gets attention, good or bad. And thats what Nokia needs now," said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Gartner.