Ericsson said its chief technology officer Hakan Eriksson will step down from his current position in February to become the head of Ericsson's business in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. He will also leave the company’s executive leadership team.
Eriksson succeeds Sam Saba, who has been appointed to a key role within the group, which will be announced separately over the coming weeks.
The company did not announce a replacement for Eriksson but said it expects to name his replacement later.
A 25-year veteran in the company, Eriksson has been group CTO for Ericsson since 2003 and also led the company’s Silicon Valley unit since November 2009.
He has been instrumental in building Ericsson’s technology leadership across many technology standards, and is key in the company’s work to establish market leadership in 3G and 4G/LTE.
Under his leadership the research organization has made significant accomplishments, mainly in the wireless area, but lately also in the IP and Application domain, and built the industry’s strongest patent portfolio, Ericsson.
Meanwhile Cesare Avenia has stepped down from his role chief brand officer (CBO), and left the company’s executive leadership team.
Avenia was appointed as CBO in November 2009, taking on the global responsibility for driving the implementation of Ericsson's brand strategy.
Ericsson said the company would not replace his role. This role and responsibility will be shared by Helena Norrman, head of group function communications, and Jan Wareby, head of group function sales and marketing, the company noted.
Avenia will continue to support the company’s brand strategy as senior advisor to group functions communications and sales and marketing.