As the dust begins to settle around the Microsoft-Nokia announcement late last night, a deal which won’t take effect until 2014 due to regulatory clearances, it has been revealed that Marko Ahtisaari will be leaving the company as well.
Ahtisaari has been a very public face of the company in terms of design, coming to signify the Lumia brand. Appearing in a few videos (see below), the soft-spoken Finn described why Nokia chose certain design aspects over others for their Lumia devices, highlighting the connection between “the digital and the physical”.
Ahtisaari is reportedly leaving to pursue “entrepreneurial opportunities”, to which he is no stranger. He was a founding investor in the business travel startup Dopplr, which was later acquired by Nokia—that transaction lead him to his current position of Nokia’s Design Unit in 2011.
It’s unclear at this point what effect Ahtisaari’s leaving will have on future Lumia devices. Presumably there is a trove of designs still in drawers or being worked on as we speak, but his guidance on the nuances for the Lumia line will surely be missed. It’s is that attention to detail that arguably make Lumias what they are for consumers.
Ahtisaari will be replaced by Stefan Pannenbecker in early November.
Via: All Things D
