Sony Ericsson Shuffles its Senior Management

Sony Ericsson has announced a shuffle of its senior management, bringing in several new executives from the parent companies to try and turn around the ailing handset manufacturer.

The company's current Chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg is to step down from the role - although he retains his position at Ericsson - and is to be replaced by Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman, CEO and President, Sony.

The current President and CEO of Sony Ericsson, Hideki (Dick) Komiyama will step down at the end of this year, and is being replaced by Bert Nordberg, currently Executive Vice President of the Ericsson Group and Head of Ericsson Silicon Valley. A transition period will start at the end of the month.

The shake-up of the management and retaining the commitment of the senior management at the parent firms may quiet oft-cited rumours that the company could be sold or broken up.

Carl-Henric Svanberg, President & CEO of Ericsson, and Chairman of the Board of Sony Ericsson, said, "In the two years he has been at Sony Ericsson Dick Komiyama has made some very important changes to their organisation and laid the foundation for the company's turn-around. Although we are sorry to see him leave Sony Ericsson, we fully respect his decision."

He added, "Bert Nordberg has a strong track-record in the area of business realignment and was instrumental in the transformation of Ericsson in the years 2002 - 2003. I am confident he will be able to build upon the foundation Dick has created and lead the final stages of Sony Ericsson's transformation."

Sony Ericsson's global market share fell to 4.7% in the second quarter 2009 from 7.5% a year ago - based on recent figures from Gartner.

Posted to the site on 17th August 2009