Sari Baldauf becomes Nokia's new Chairwoman

The telecom equipment maker, Nokia has appointed Sari Baldauf as Chairwoman. She has succeeded Risto Siilasmaa who chaired the Finnish firm for eight years.

Baldauf is one of the high-profile female executives in the global telecoms industry and faces a tough task to fight back in the 5G race, as rivals Ericsson and Huawei put pressure on its sales and cash reserves.

Outgoing Chief Executive Rajeev Suri, who will hand over to Pekka Lundmark in September, said the company will emerge from the coronavirus crisis stronger than before, and had a strengthened supply chain with 25 factories around the globe.

Nokia has been hampered by delays in its system-on-chip (SoC) development - an entire computer system on a single chip which allows the company to cut costs.

Baldauf, 64, rejoined the Nokia board in 2018, having already been a member between 1994 and 2005.

She is the last remaining Executive from former Chairman and CEO Jorma Ollila's team, which in the late 1990s turned a Finnish company with a tiny tech unit into the world's biggest cellphone maker.