Finnish mobile startup Jolla, which is building a new OS based on the MeeGo platform with a strong focus on China, has named a new CEO as it moves towards its first product launch ahead of the unveiling of its Sailfish OS next month. Former CEO Jussi Hurmola will now focus on “Sailfish strategy” (and moves onto the Jolla Board), while Jolla’s former COO, Marc Dillon, will take over as CEO. Dillon’s background includes working in a variety of senior engineering roles at Nokia across Symbian, S40 and MeeGo.
The news was announced in a tweet on Jolla’s Twitter account (h/t to tonistechblog for spotting)
Jolla watch changes as we focus on product delivery. @marcdillondotfi is new CEO, @jussihurmola focuses to Sailfish strategy. Onwards sails!
— Jolla (@JollaMobile) October 15, 2012
At the time of writing, Jolla had not responded to a request for further comment on the exec reshuffle but the company’s tweet points to a new focus on product delivery as it draws closer to the big reveal of Sailfish — due to take place at the Slush startup conference in Helsinki, Finland, on November 21-22.
Update: A Jolla spokesperson said regular executive reshuffles are part of the startup’s business development strategy — noting: “Regular rotation is a part of our company culture that keeps us agile and our way of working well matched to the most important tasks at hand.”
In this case, Jolla’s priority is focusing on product delivery. “This is a good move as the product delivery is our #1 focus,” said the spokesperson. “Marc has been in charge of the engineering and product development right from the start and the move will now maximise the delivery efficiency. At the same time, it’s elementary that we also look beyond the first launch and Jussi’s new role i.e. focusing on further developing the Sailfish strategy and the whole ecosystem will be very important for Jolla.”
Dillon assumes the CEO role “with immediate effect”, the spokesperson added.