Nokia's marketing partner HMD Global's CEO resigns with 'immediate effect'

Arto Nummela CEO of HMD Global, a Finnish startup which designs and sells Nokia branded smartphones, is resigning from the company with 'immediate effect' and by ‘a mutual agreement’, according to reports.

The news about Arto’s resignation came as a shock at a time when Nokia is making efforts in regaining its grounds in the smartphone market, currently ruled by Samsung and Apple.

"We want to be one of the key competitive players in the smartphone business," Nummela had once told Reuters.

This year, the firm had released three Nokia-branded Android smartphones—Nokia 6, Nokia 5 and Nokia 3, and a revamped version iconic Nokia 3310 phone. According to recent rumours, Nokia is also preparing to release another set of Nokia smartphones—Nokia 2, Nokia 7, Nokia 8 and Nokia 9, all to be operated on Android. And among all, July 31 has been set as the launch date for Nokia 8 smartphone.

"Arto Nummela has played a key role in the creation of the HMD Global operation, building the team and launching our first products. On behalf of the whole Board, I thank Arto for his contribution and wish him well in his future endeavors," said Sam Chin, Chairman of the Board, HMD Global Oy in a statement.

HMD President Florian Seiche, who previously worked at Siemens, Orange, HTC and Nokia, has been appointed as acting CEO of the company.