Agung Wijanarko, head of mobile devices at XL Axiata, is leaving the company after just nine months on the job. The former head of BlackBerry and consumer devices at Indosat had been instrumental in delivering the iPhone 4 to XL Axiata and ensuring a competitive landscape in the smartphone market. Samsung’s flagship Android phone, the Nexus S also made its way to the network during his time at XL.
Without skipping a beat, Wijanarko will officially join Qualcomm’s business development team in July where he will be responsible primarily for developing and maintaining business relations with the country’s telecommunications companies. His departure leaves a significant hole to fill at XL Axiata as he has been one of the biggest names not just within the company but in the industry.
Previously he spent nearly a decade at Indosat in various roles. He started as a business analyst in 2001 at Satelindo before the company was absorbed by Indosa. Prior to leaving the company he was one of the key figures in developing Indonesia as a lucrative market for RIM’s BlackBerry devices.
At XL, Wijanarko helped spearhead the company’s relationship with several mobile developers and had been planning to run a campaign to raise the profile and exposure as well as increase participation of mobile application development.
In his resignation email, he said that while he had enjoyed his time at XL, he thought that it was time to pursue a different career path. Speaking to DailySocial, he admitted that while it’s unfortunate that he only managed to spend a short time at XL Axiata, the opportunity offered by Qualcomm was one that is too great to miss.
In moving to Qualcomm, Wijanarko will be working closely with country manager Harry K. Nugraha who is also the company’s senior director of business development.
update: we were just informed independently that Harry Nugraha is leaving Qualcomm this month and his replacement is said to be Ben Siagian, currently Country Sales Director at Oracle Indonesia although no announcement has been made.
