Qualcomm Appoints New Leaders for Middle East and African Efforts

Qualcomm (News - Alert) Incorporated, a developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies and data solutions, has announced the appointments of James Munn as the company’s vice president of business development for Sub-Sahara Africa and Jay Srage as its vice president of business development for the Middle East and North Africa.

Both Munn and Srage will lead Qualcomm’s business operations in the regions, while also managing the company’s strategic relationships with regional customers, including network operators, infrastructure equipment providers, mobile handset vendors and value-added service developers.

 

“The Middle East and Africa are complex blends of diverse market segments that present unique challenges and considerable growth opportunities to Qualcomm,” said Jing Wang, executive vice president of Qualcomm Asia Pacific and Middle East/Africa.

 

“James and Jay both bring an exceptional mix of telecom and consumer product industry expertise to their positions, making them ideal candidates to spearhead our growing business development efforts in the regions. The insight and leadership of these two executives puts Qualcomm in a good position to strengthen its existing partnerships and foster new relationships to expand its market reach,” added Wang.

Prior to joining Qualcomm, Munn served as vice president of Samsung’s (News - Alert) mobile division in South Africa. In this position, he spearheaded the company’s sales and marketing activities and played a leading role in growing its regional market share.

 

Munn also spent 10 years with Ericsson and most recently served as the director of consumer products for Sony Ericsson (News - Alert) in South Africa. Before this, Munn worked in Europe for Matsushita Communications during Europe’s migration from analog to digital mobile networks. Munn has a Bachelor of Arts in international marketing from the University of Greenwich in London.

Srage brings to the company more than 10 years experience with Texas Instruments (News - Alert). With TI, he most recently oversaw marketing operations for the company’s wireless terminals business unit.

Srage also co-managed TI Ventures, the company’s venture finance fund, where he directed TI’s investments in start-up companies that focused on the wireless and telecommunications industries.

Prior roles found Srage involved in marketing and business development for TI’s digital audio business unit. Srage earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago, a Master of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor and a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the American University of Beirut.

Qualcomm is in a unique position to leverage its strengths in these regions and push its strategies forward to drive growth. To ensure that these endeavors are successful, the company has turned to two experts in the field with proven performance in not only the industry, but also the target regions. Such expertise is sure to help Qualcomm optimize their efforts.