Startup stories in association with oh look. in. Few companies go beyond connecting people. It transform the world. Similarly a brand was born in 1865 in a paper mill in South West Finland which was considered as one of the most successful and important fortune 500 company. That is a name that revolutionise the world of communication and has ruled the phone market for so many years. However, things took a drastic turn and this leader was not just dethroned from its position but was banished from the game itself. Today we take a look at the rise and fall of one of the most loved mobile brands in the world Nokia.
Formally known as Nordic mobile phone. The company built the first international mobile phone network in nineteeneighty-one. This was the beginning of the mobile era. Nokia DX 200. Their first digital telephone switch went into operation a year later. What began as a simple idea slowly started manifesting into a major mobile revolution. Nokia launched Mobida Talkman portable phone and later in 19eighty-seven. The world saw Mobida settlement which was the first hand held phone.
A 1991 when the concept of GSM came into existence. Nokia’s equipment was put to use to make the first GSM call and what followed later disrupted the entire mobile market. In the year 1992 Nokia’s first GSM handset Nokia one zero one one hit the market and it became an instant hit. Later the popular trademark Nokia tune was launched and the Nokia 2100 series was the first handset to have this as its signature tune. When the first ever satellite call was made using a Nokia GSM phone. Four years later in nineteen ninety-eight Nokia became the world leader in mobile phone market.
The innovation continued along with untiring research. The year two thousand two saw the first ever three G enabled phone Nokia double six five zero. Later in 2003 with the launch of engage mobile gaming. It further pierced its market among you and this series became a raise among the youngsters. Wealth with such consistency and market leadership. There was no other way but going further up in the table.
But for Nokia it was completely different. It was stepping on to ending its error. Which it had built with several years of perseverance and hard work. With the launch of Android and iOS phones. The market for Nokia started diminishing and thus began the fall of one of the world’s largest mobile phone producer. Well Nokia like other smartphone pioneers saw the revolution coming.But it fell behind as Apple flipped the mobile industry upside down with the launch of iPhone in two thousand seven. Later Google Android enabled smartphones arrived in 2008 with a lot of innovative features which further left Nokia Symbian as a traditional OS. But it all started even before Apple launched an iPhone. Nokia was forced into one of the world’s largest product recalls.
After it admitted that the batteries in forty-6 million phones were faulty. Well followed after that was something that Nokia never imagine would happen. Nokia slowly started going down in the market. Within just a year Nokia reported a 30% fall in third quarter profits and the smartphone sales fell by 3. 1% during the quarter while sales of Apple iPhones grew by 327. 5%.
Later Nokia announced to cut 1, 700 jobs worldwide as a recession badly hit mobile phone sales. While competitors iPhone and Android base devices were posing a serious challenge to Nokia’s future. It had to opt for desperate measures. It appointed former Microsoft as president and chief executive of Nokia. But despite that Nokia further went down as it again fired 1800 people from their jobs.Later in the year 2011. Nokia announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft to compete with Apple and Google’s Android platform. But still things were not falling in place for Nokia.
As the losses of the company further widened. Shares kept falling down as it slumped to a one point three billion euro loss. And with this it further cut down 10, 000 more jobs worldwide and announced that its last factory in Finland will also be shut down.Later in 2013 Microsoft acquired Nokia at 7.2 billion dollars. This acquisition showed the world just how far and fast Nokia fell in the recent years. What happened to Nokia is no secret. Nokia was at its heart a hardware company rather than a software company. Its engineers were experts at building physical devices but not the programs that make those devices work. In the end the company profoundly underestimated the importance of software including the apps run on smartphones for better user experience.
It wasn’t just that Nokia failed to recognise the increasing importance of software. It also underestimated how important the transition to smartphones would be. And there was another mistake as well. Nokia overestimated the strength of its brand and they strongly believe that even if it was late to the smartphone game it would be able to catch up quickly and thus even after the iPhone’s release Nokia continue to insist that it’s superior hard designs would win over the users.
However, Nokia never realised that it was digging its own grave. And ultimately it had to succumb to its faulty decisions. From making rubber boots in a pulp million to leading the world in the mobile phone market. Nokia failed to meet the challenges posed by Android and iPhone. In 2008 Nokia was believed as one of the most valuable brands in the world. But it failed to recognise that brands today aren’t as resilient as they once were.
The high tech era has taught people to expect constant innovation when companies fall behind. Consumers are quick to punish them. Late and inadequate for Nokia was a deadly combination and that’s how an undisputable era came to a daunting end. The closure of the most loved electronic brand left million shattered. Praying for its return ever since. And as the saying goes if you wish for something with all your heart.
It shall come true and Nokia was no exception.In the next episode of startup stories learn about Nokia’s rise from the dead and its grand return in twenty seventeen.Thank you so much everyone for suggesting us to do a video on Nokia and to also feature few stories on how companies struggled even after tasting success. We hope you liked it. Do let us know whose story do you want to see next in the comment section below and we’ll soon have it uploaded on this channel. For more suggestions and feedback please write to us at info at startup stories TV.
