Colin Giles to lead Huawei consumer business unit
Huawei has hired former Nokia sales boss Colin Giles as EVP to head its consumer business group. Giles is tasked with helping the Chinese vendor achieve its goal to becoming a leading brand in the global smartphone market.
Giles assumed his new role on Jul 1 and is responsible for the company’s global marketing, retail and open channel development.
Huawei consumer business group CEO Richard Yu said: “We are thrilled to welcome [Giles] to our team and believe he will be instrumental in further propelling the growth of Huawei’s global marketing efforts, and contribute to our goal to become a leading consumer brand in the world.”
Giles was formerly with Nokia for more than 20 years and helped guide the company’s expansion into China and other Asian markets, such as Korea and Japan. Most recently, he was the head of sales for Nokia, however he resigned in 2012 as Lumia sales continued to slump.
Gavin Patterson to take over as BT Group CEO
BT announced that Gavin Patterson, head of BT Retail, will take over as chief executive of BT Group in September.
Patterson replaces Ian Livingston, who has agreed to take up a role in government as Minister of State for Trade and Investment. Livingston will continue as chief executive of BT until he steps down from his post and from BT’s board in September.
Patterson joined BT as a senior executive in 2004. He was promoted to chief executive of BT Retail and a BT board member in 2008.