5G underdog Nokia firmly back in game after Lundmark’s shakeup

STOCKHOLM/HELSINKI: Shifting geopolitics and a sharp round of cost cutting have put Nokia firmly back in the global 5G rollout race just a year after CEO Pekka Lundmark took the reins at the Finnish company.

Considered a 5G underdog after betting on the wrong type of chips and losing a multi-billion Verizon contract to Samsung, Nokia has more recently been gaining ground on arch-rival Ericsson, even as both benefit from U.S. pressure on European governments to crackdown on China’s Huawei.

Lundmark in February warned of a “challenging” year of transition with “meaningful headwinds”, but two good quarters have rekindled hopes of a turnaround and Nokia said earlier this month that it will raise its full-year outlook when it reports second-quarter results on Thursday.