New York, USA - Nokia today announced that it will realign its North America sales and marketing organization and the management of its device business there. These changes are aimed at improving the organization's alignment with its customers in North America in order to better meet their needs. 

In a move towards building a more channel-focused organization, Nokia is redefining the roles of its device sales teams for North America and relocating most sales support people closer to customers. The device sales organization will move most of its support functions from Irving, Texas, to Nokia's corporate facilities in White Plains, New York.

As part of the changes, Mark Louison, the current head of Nokia's networks business in North America, has been appointed to head Nokia's devices business in the area as of July 1, 2007. As of April 1, Mr. Louison will also become President of Nokia Inc., the North American arm of Nokia. After the realignment and relocation is complete, Tim Eckersley, the current head of Nokia's device sales in North America, will leave his current position at the end of June. His future plans will be announced at a later date.

"The changes we announced today are designed to align us more closely with our customers in order to drive improved business results in North America," said Robert Andersson, Executive Vice President, Nokia Customer and Market Operations. "We believe these moves will enable us to reinforce our sales and marketing activities in this important market and allow us to provide our customers with some truly compelling product offerings."

All the changes announced today will start immediately, with completion expected by the end of June.