Foxconn International Holdings Ltd, a contract maker of phones for Nokia Oyj and Research in Motion Ltd., is set to name company veteran Calvin Chih its new chief executive officer after Terry Cheng resigned, Bloomberg reports.

Chih, who joined Lang Fang, China-based FIH in 2005 when it acquired the mobile-phone design company he founded, will be interim CEO ahead of formal approval by the company’s board, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. spokesman Simon Hsing said by phone today. Hon Hai, based in Taipei, is the parent of FIH with a stake of about 70 percent.

Chih takes charge of a company struggling with the decline of three of its largest clients -- Nokia, RIM and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., while the rest of the Foxconn Technology Group benefits from surging demand for Apple Inc. iPhones and iPads. Chih founded Chi Mei Communication Systems Inc. in 2001 and headed the team that designed FIH’s first handsets for Motorola.

FIH’s net income of $90.5 million for the six months to Dec. 31 ended three consecutive semi-annual losses as customers boosted outsourcing. On April 27 the company said its first-half loss would widen from the $17.7 million it posted a year earlier.

Chih, listed in FIH’s annual report published in April as 53 years old, has 32 years experience in the communication industry including positions at GTE Corp. and Rockwell Semiconductor Systems.

Cheng, 59, is quitting less than a third of the way into a three-year term as CEO that began Jan. 1. He has been at the company since 2007 after 10 years as Texas Instruments Inc.’s president for Asia.