ST-Ericsson anoints its third CEO in three years

CHIPMAKER ST-Ericsson has announced that its COO Didier Lamouche will step up to the CEO role from December.

ST-Ericsson, a joint venture between Ericsson and ST Micro, will appoint its third CEO in three years with Lamouche taking over from Gilles Delfassy. The firm had been one of Nokia's main chip vendors, but as the Finnish phone firm moves towards shipping more Windows Phone devices ST-Ericsson has been hit by falling demand.

As ST-Ericsson announced Lamouche's promotion, the firm tried to put some much needed gloss on its future. According to ST-Ericsson's statement the firm "enters a phase with prime focus on proliferating design-wins and scaling up and delivering volume, with the objective of translating its new portfolio into sustainable profitability and growth". So basically the company is trying to enter "a phase" of shipping as many chips as it can, a phase one would hope every chip vendor would enter on the first day of business.

Talking of Lamouche's appointment, Hans Vestberg, chairman of ST-Ericsson said, "Didier Lamouche's background and extensive industry experience will bring important additions to ST-Ericsson during this crucial phase in the company's evolution. On behalf of ST-Ericsson's board, I thank Gilles for his strong contribution to ST-Ericsson."

ST-Ericsson has been hit hard by Nokia's decision to jump to Microsoft's Windows Phone, which currently prescribes the use of Qualcomm Snapdragon chips. However Microsoft has hinted that other chip vendors could be in the running when a new version of Windows Phone comes out, something ST-Ericsson will hope gives it a chance to win back Nokia's high volume business.

Delfassy will remain as a senior advisor to Lamouche during a transitional period. µ