Subsidiary of Nokia. Nokia - technology that brings people together
Dynamics of revenue and profit
2019: Opening of a network of cognitive collaboration centers
On February 18, 2019 it became known that Nokia announced a network of cognitive collaboration centers (Cognitive Collaboration Hubs). Designed for data scientists, these centers will strengthen collaboration between Nokia, operators and enterprises and create a unified space for developing services using artificial intelligence. One such service, Driver Behavior Analytics, improves road safety by analyzing driver behavior and road conditions in real time. The open centers will offer users hosting on Nokia's AVA cognitive platform to accelerate time to market for operator services and improve the ROI of data analytics solutions.
Cognitive Collaboration Centers were created taking into account the positive experience gained during the formation of Collaboration Centers in the field of cloud solutions (Nokia Cloud Collaboration Hubs).
The centers will help operators choose the right development strategies and solve important problems using analytical functions and artificial intelligence technologies (Artificial Intelligence). Developers using the |agile methodology will work together to create, test, and quickly deploy services within weeks. Typical applications for these services include operating networks, improving network performance, enhancing user functionality, and monetizing data. Another important area is networks. For February, 2019 Nokia cooperates with a number of American operators in the field of use of machine learning for optimization of planning of fifth generation networks. This approach, in particular, will help to correctly determine the locations of base stations and configurations of Massive MIMO antenna technology.
In many countries, operators successfully use cognitive services created on the basis of these methods. For example, in Turkey, Nokia and Türk Telekom are testing machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies in the latest generation mobile networks and fixed networks using the Nokia MIKA virtual assistant on the Nokia AVA cognitive platform.
Nokia also announced a service to improve road safety and passenger convenience called Driver Behavior Analytics. This service analyzes data from conventional sensors in real time and, on this basis, generates useful information for government agencies, the automotive industry and commercial enterprises. This solution can transmit useful information about aggressive driving, poor road conditions and dangerous intersections to a smartphone running a proprietary app.
2018
Nokia and Ericsson are losing to Huawei, despite the problems of the Chinese company
At the end of December 2018, it became known that Huawei's competitors - Ericsson and Nokia - were unable to take advantage of the failures of the Chinese company to strengthen their position in the market and develop advanced telecommunications equipment. Read more about this.
Creation of a single telecom division before the launch of 5G
The head of Nokia's largest structure - Mobile Networks (brings the vendor about 30% of revenue) - Marc Rouanne is leaving the company. His responsibilities will be transferred to Tommy Uitto, whom Nokia calls a “radio technology expert.”
Marc Ruane, who joined Nokia from Alcatel-Lucent in 2008, was responsible for the development and sale of 5G technologies at the Finnish company. Tommy Uitto has led mobile network product sales since the sale of Alcatel-Lucent to Nokia for €15.6 billion in 2016.
Marc Ruan became the second high-ranking executive to leave Nokia in the fall of 2018. In October, the head of the patent business, Ilkka Rahnasto, left the company, notes Reuters.
The president of the newly formed Access Networks division will be chosen later. Structural changes at Nokia will take effect on January 1, 2019.
The company says that the announced changes, including personnel changes, are aimed at ensuring that the organizational structure is consistent with Nokia's strategy. As a result of the reorganization, the manufacturer of telecommunications equipment strengthened its top management and strengthened its position before the start of the 5G era, Nokia noted.
Laying off “thousands” of employees for 5G development
Creation of a joint venture with Rostelecom
On September 24, 2018, it became known about the creation of a joint venture between Rostelecom and Nokia - RTK - Network Technologies. It will focus on the production of software and equipment for communication networks under the import substitution policy. The development will be based on Nokia technologies and domestic solutions. Read more.
Europe gave Nokia a loan of 500 million euros for the development of 5G
2017
Patent agreement with Huawei
In all cases, contract details are not specified. It is only known that the partners make regular payments to Nokia, and the latter provides the right to use its patents, which, among other things, allow reducing the number of components in smartphones, extending the battery life of devices and improving signal reception. This business generates most of Nokia's profits, while over 90% of revenue is concentrated in sales of telecommunications equipment and software.
After the announcement of the deal with Huawei, Nokia shares rose 2.1%. From the beginning of 2017 to December 21, the company decreased by 14%.
Layoffs after the purchase of Alcatel-Lucent
The company cut 960 positions in Finland last year and said it planned to lay off another 1,400 employees in Germany.
In 2016, Nokia announced it planned to cut thousands of positions worldwide as part of its $1.3 billion global cost-cutting plan following its purchase of Alcatel-Lucent. The company can fire up to 15 thousand people. out of a total workforce (including Alcatel-Lucent) of about 101 thousand people, i.e. more than 14% of the total staff.
It is expected that the announced layoffs and reductions will take place in divisions where there is overlap - in R&D, as well as in regional representative offices and sales departments.
Resolving the conflict with Apple
In May 2017, Nokia and Apple settled a patent dispute, as a result of which the American company will pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the Finnish company as part of a multi-year licensing agreement.
In addition to settling claims, the agreement assumes that Nokia will provide Apple with a number of products and services in the field of network infrastructure, and Apple will continue to sell Nokia fitness devices in its stores (they are produced by Withings, which Nokia bought in 2016). In addition, the companies will collaborate on the creation of medical devices.
Apple and Nokia begin close cooperation, resolving a patent dispute
The financial component of the agreement has not been disclosed, but it is known that we are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars that Nokia will receive in the form of an upfront payment and additional royalties over the life of the licensing agreement.
At the end of 2016, Nokia filed lawsuits against Apple in several courts, including German and American. The Finnish telecommunications equipment maker alleged that Apple infringed 32 patents that cover various elements of mobile devices, including the display, user interface, video encoding and antenna.
Nokia's move was a response to Apple's antitrust lawsuit, which accused the American corporation and several other companies of illegally transferring patents in order to extort excessive patent payments. In May 2017, all claims were withdrawn.
According to analysts interviewed by Reuters, the proceedings between Apple and Nokia could drag on, so they were surprised at the fairly quick resolution of the conflict.
2016
Claims against Apple for infringing 32 patents
On December 22, 2016, it became known about new claims by Nokia in the field of patent compliance by Apple.
Nokia's press service announced Apple infringed 32 patents owned by the Finnish company, including rights to display technology, user interface, software, antennas, chips and video encoding.
The lawsuits were filed in a number of district courts in Germany and in the District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The company announced its readiness to file lawsuits in the courts of other countries.
The history of the conflict between Nokia and Apple dates back to 2009, when the Finnish vendor accused the American competitor of violating patents on technologies used in mobile communication devices.
Then Nokia demanded a royalty of 1-2% ($6-12) from each iPhone sold. In 2011, the parties entered into a licensing agreement, ending disputes over 46 Nokia patent complaints.
Return to the phone market
According to Planet Today, Nokia is in negotiations with the Finnish Bittium to allocate production facilities for the brand to produce its devices in Finland.
If the deal goes through, Nokia will have to complete the contract with Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry) - it is busy producing the N1 tablet under the Finnish brand. In addition, the publication reported, if the partners come to an agreement, consumers will see the first copies of Nokia equipment by the end of 2016.
Mass layoffs
Nokia cuts up to 14% of staff
According to Bloomberg sources, Nokia really did not lay off people en masse in France, leaving about 4,200 jobs there, 2,500 of which are R&D specialists.
By the beginning of April 2016, the total number of Nokia personnel was about 104 thousand employees. Finland, Germany and France employ 6,850, 4,800 and 4,200 people respectively. The company did not specify the scope of the global personnel reorganization.
Bloomberg, citing people familiar with Nokia's plans, reports that the company wants to cut 10 to 15 thousand jobs worldwide, that is, up to 14% of the workforce. This is being done in order to overcome problems associated with difficult market conditions and strong competition from Huawei, one of the sources told the publication.
According to Bloomberg's interlocutors, Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri discussed the upcoming cuts with representatives of trade unions during a telephone conference held on April 6, 2016. The company's management intends to meet with workers in several countries in April-May.
2015
Nokia buys Alcatel-Lucent for 15.6 billion euros and creates Nokia Corporation
For the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia will pay 15.6 billion euros, or 4.12 euros per share, which is 8% less than its stock market value as of April 14, 2015. The announced deal provided Nokia securities with an increase of 2.8%, while Alcatel-Lucent's quotes fell by 9%, although on the eve of the announcement of the agreement they jumped by 16%.
Nokia buys Alcatel-Lucent for 15.6 billion euros
As a result of the merger of Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia Corporation was created with a staff of more than 110 thousand people. Nokia promises not to cut jobs beyond those planned by Alcatel-Lucent. Read more.
Return to the smartphone market
With a message published on the official website on July 13, 2015, Nokia announced the return of the brand to the smartphone market. True, the Finnish company’s work in the mobile industry will be carried out in a different format than before.
Nokia Technologies representative Robert Morlino, on behalf of the company, said that upon returning to the mobile phone market, Nokia will license its trademark. That is, the European vendor intends to develop gadgets, share its technologies and sell the rights to sell its devices to another company. The latter will have to take over the development and sales of Nokia products, as well as handle marketing and customer support. According to this scheme, Nokia, together with Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry), is distributing the Nokia N1 Android tablet.
Nokia intends to return to the smartphone market with the help of a world-class partner
According to Morlino, Nokia is looking for a “world-class partner” to help the company return to the smartphone market. The names of companies that could potentially provide assistance to the Finnish manufacturer have not been specified.
A Nokia representative noted that the company will be able to release smartphones no earlier than the fourth quarter of 2016. Doing this before the specified deadline is prohibited by the agreement with Microsoft, signed in 2014 and relating to the sale of the Nokia telephone division to the American software corporation.
By mid-2015, Microsoft stopped using the Nokia brand on Lumia smartphones, but still offers feature phones under the brand.
“For 14 years, Nokia has been the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, and the company's brand has become a household name, symbolizing quality, innovation and connection between people. It continues to be widely recognized by millions of people around the world, bringing joy to the people who helped create the brand. Therefore, it is not surprising that the question constantly arises about whether Nokia will return to the mobile device market. It’s difficult to answer,” said Robert Morlino, emphasizing that the return can only be achieved with the assistance of a partner.
2013
Sale of mobile business to Microsoft for $7.2 billion
Redemption of Siemens' stake in Nokia Siemens Networks
2012: Cuts
- April 24, 2012 Fitch rating agency downgraded Nokia's credit rating from BBB- to junk level at BB+ with a negative outlook. Analysts have an unfavorable assessment of the company's prospects in 2012-2013.
- In June 2012, it became known that Nokia plans to cut 10 thousand jobs worldwide. Nokia's only plant in Finland will also be closed as part of the company's largest workforce reduction in recent years. The total number of job cuts since 2010, when Stephen Elop became head of the company, has reached 40 thousand.
2011
Partnership with Microsoft
In February 2011, the head of the Mobile Solutions division, Anssi Vanjoki, announced his intention to leave Nokia in March 2011. In addition, a marketing director was appointed. It was Jerry DeVard.
That same month, Nokia announced a partnership with Microsoft that would see its smartphones use the Windows Phone operating system. The share of this operating system in the fourth quarter of 2010 decreased to 3%. However, this alliance could be beneficial for Microsoft. In 2010, Nokia shipped a total of 453 million mobile phones - a good base for the distribution of Windows Mobile.
It was announced that Nokia's business would change radically by the end of 2012. To stop the decline in smartphone market share, the company will jointly develop a new operating system with Microsoft.
The new strategy was presented by Nokia CEO Stephen Elop. Shortly before this, Elop wrote to employees with a letter: “The first iPhone appeared in 2007, and we still don’t have anything comparable. Android came on the scene just two years ago and took over our leadership. Incredible."
In the coming years, the market engine will be smartphones - devices with operating systems where you can download applications from third-party developers, Elop is sure. According to IDC, the share of smartphones in phone shipments increased from 15.8% in the fourth quarter of 2009 to 25.1% in the same period of 2010. Nokia's problem is the lack of a global ecosystem like those created by Google and Apple, Elop is sure . He promises to build such an ecosystem with Microsoft, where he worked for several years. The main operating system for Nokia will be Windows Phone from Microsoft, and a new operating system will be created on its basis. Nokia's contribution will include hardware solutions, language support, and mapping services. Microsoft will provide the Bing search engine, to which the adCenter online advertising system will be linked, and the Nokia application and mobile content store will be combined with Microsoft Marketspace.
Nokia will pay licensing fees to Microsoft, but promises to compensate for this by sharply cutting its development budget, which is now ($8.1 billion) four times larger than Apple's. Elop also promises to cut staff.
Staff reduction
In April 2011, it became known that Nokia plans to lay off 4 thousand employees in its branches around the world by the end of 2012. This will primarily affect Denmark, Finland and.
In addition, as stated in the official statement, by the end of 2011, Nokia intends to retire 3 thousand employees in the UK, Finland, China and India, transferring them to work at Accenture, where they will continue to work on the Symbian operating system .
Accenture is an international consulting and outsourcing company, a long-time partner of Nokia (the parties have been collaborating since 1994). In October 2009, Accenture acquired the Nokia group, which provides technical support to telecom operators and manufacturers using Symbian-based smartphones.
Once Nokia employees join Accenture, they will continue to develop programs for Nokia through an outsourcing model. Subsequently, when the company stops producing smartphones with Symbian, the partners promise to offer developers new promising positions.
With the help of the above measures, Nokia expects to reduce annual costs by €1 billion by 2013 compared to 2010, the company’s press service explained. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop called staff reductions a “harsh reality,” a forced measure that the vendor has to take in order not to completely go under.
This is the second major staff reduction announcement during Elop's tenure. The first (1,800 people) was done in October 2010 almost immediately after the change of leadership. At the end of 2010, Nokia employed approximately 132 thousand people.
Employees who will be laid off from the Finnish telecommunications concern Nokia over the next year may find jobs in new IT centers that are now being intensively created in the giant's homeland - in the Finnish region of Tampere-Pirkanmaa. Among the partners of local authorities in creating new jobs are companies such as Intel, Google, Palm, Skype, HP, and China Mobile. The most promising are Intel's plans to create a MeeGo center in Tampere for scientific research and development of this operating system. According to municipal authorities, of the 1,400 Nokia employees being laid off in Finland, 400-500 people live in Tampere. In total, 2,600 jobs for IT personnel will be created in the region, including within the framework of large EU projects.
2010
The new head of the company is Stephen Elop
In September 2010, to replace the head of Intel, Nokia and the University of Oulu (Oulu, Finland) announced the opening of a joint research and development center, which became part of the European network Intel Labs Europe, which already included 22 centers as of August 2010.
The new center is located in the Center for Internet Excellence complex at the University of Oulu and is integrated with the Oulu Urban Living Labs technology park, which is a good environment for in-depth research and the implementation of pilot projects, the official statement says.
The initial goal of the first joint R&D center between Intel and Nokia, staffed by about 24 scientists, will be the development of new types of interfaces for mobile devices, including 3D holograms of the interlocutor, which could previously be seen in science fiction films. Some projects will involve the MeeGo platform, and their results will be available under open licenses.
2007: 68 thousand employees
As of the end of 2007, Nokia's workforce was 68,321.
2006: Creation of the joint venture Nokia Networks and Siemens
In June 2006, it was announced that the Nokia Networks division would merge with the corresponding telecommunications division of Siemens. The 50/5 joint venture between Nokia and Siemens will be a global leader with a strong position in the most important and growing sectors of the fixed and mobile network technologies and services market.
2005: Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo - head of the company
1865: Opening of a paper mill
In February 1871, Nokia Corporation (Nokia Aktiebolag) was founded. The company confidently conquered the markets of Denmark, Germany, Russia, England, Poland and France. By the way, business people from St. Petersburg played an important role in Nokia’s entry into the international arena.
Story Nokia- one of the most incredible business sagas of the 90s of the last century. As BusinessWeek magazine wrote, in the early 90s, the Finnish conglomerate was worried about problems very far from cellular communications: then the volume of sales to the Soviet Union, which was on the verge of collapse, began to decline sharply... of toilet paper. And by the end of the millennium, the same Finns, having refocused on the production of cell phones, surpassed both Ericsson and Motorola in their new market. Quite quickly, Nokia became one of the leading players in the global telecommunications market, as well as one of the richest European companies. But everything is in order...
The history of Nokia is usually dated back to 1865. On May 12, 1865, Finnish mining engineer Fredrik Idestam received permission to build a wood pulp factory near the Nokia River. This was the beginning of the future Nokia Corporation. It was during these years that the industry experienced rapid growth. Industrialization, the need for paper and cardboard for growing cities and offices grew every day. And now, on the site of the mill factory, a pulp and paper mill grew up. Over time, the Nokia plant attracted a large number of workers, so that soon a city of the same name - Nokia - was formed around it. The enterprise grew from a national scale; Nokia paper began to be supplied first to Russia, then to England, France, and even China. At the end of the 1860s, the demand for paper products in Finland many times exceeded domestic production, which led to increased imports of raw materials from Russia and Sweden. In February 1871, Nokia Corporation (Nokia Aktiebolag) was founded. The company confidently conquered the markets of Denmark, Germany, Russia, England, Poland and France. By the way, business people from St. Petersburg played an important role in Nokia’s entry into the international arena.
Meanwhile, in the United States, the “rubber fever” of the early 1830s ended as suddenly as it began. Many investors lost millions of dollars. But bankrupt Philadelphia equipment manufacturer Charles Goodyear continued to experiment with rubber. In February 1839, he discovered the phenomenon of vulcanization. At the same time, he created waterproof rubber, which made it possible to use this material in a wide variety of conditions. In 1898, Frank Seiberling founded the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and bought its first plant. Ten years later, Goodyear became the world's largest rubber company.
In Finland, rubber goods appeared at the end of the 19th century. The first products were shoes and various items made of rubberized fabric. At first they were a luxury, but very quickly raincoats and galoshes gained popularity in cities and rural areas. Rubber products have become part of not only the consumer but also the business market. Due to industrialization, there was a demand for various equipment, which meant the need for all kinds of rubber products. In Finland, the main manufacturer of such products was Finnish Rubber Works (FRW). When FRW management decided to move its production from Helsinki to the countryside, it chose a site near Nokia. The opportunity to buy inexpensive electricity from Nokia became decisive - the river near which the plant was located not only served as a decoration for the landscape, but was also a source of cheap electricity.
In 1912, a company was opened in the center of Helsinki, which later received the name Finnish Cable Works. The increasing demand for electricity transmission, as well as the rapid development of telegraph and telephone networks, ensured the rapid growth of the company. Looking ahead, it should be noted that after the end of World War II, the company was practically a monopolist, owning the absolute majority of Finnish cable manufacturers. In 1920, these three firms: Nokia Corporation, Finnish Rubber Works and Finnish Cable Works, entered into a coalition to form the Nokia Group. Participation in this industrial conglomerate implied Nokia's opposition to social, political and economic events: both the Roaring Twenties and the Great depression, and the invasion of the Soviet Union, and subsequent wars, and the payment of reparations to Moscow.
Although Nokia lost its corporate autonomy, its name very soon became a common foundation for the three companies, and during these same years FRW began to use the name “Nokia” as its brand. True, soon the third of the companies, Finnish Cable Works (FCW), lured Nokia into a new sector for it - the construction of power plants. In the 1920s and 30s, Nokia was already a leader in all areas of its activities. It was diversification that helped the company survive economically difficult times almost painlessly: when some sector of the economy was in decline, Nokia survived at the expense of enterprises in other industries.
Nokia began operations in the Soviet Union in the 60s. In 1966, the merger of three companies - Nokia, FRW and FRC - began and was finally formalized in 1967. Oy Nokia Ab was an industrial conglomerate operating in four main areas: forestry, rubber, cables and electronics. Old businesses, especially cables, continued to drive Nokia's profitability. Some Finnish observers believe that the control system was taken from a cable factory; and the rubber industry brought in money. And the electronics department helped revive Nokia's competitiveness at a new stage in the company's development.
Back in the 60s, the president of Finnish Cable Works, Björn Vesterlund, established an electronics department that carried out research in the field of semiconductors. The main personnel of the department are employees of universities and colleges, with whom Westerlund has long maintained good relations. The head of the department, Kurt Wickstedt, who called himself “obsessed with numbers,” was well aware of all the prospects for the development of electronic communications and skillfully directed the efforts of developers in precisely these priority areas. The mood in the air at that time could be characterized by the words “everything is possible and everything needs to be tried.”
The first radiotelephone was developed in 1963, and a data modem was developed in 1965. However, most telephone exchanges at that time had electromechanical switching devices and no one even thought about the possible “digitalization” of their equipment. Despite such conservatism that reigned in this area at that time, Nokia still took on the development of a digital switch based on pulse code modulation (PCM). In 1969, it was the first to produce PCM transmitting equipment that meets CCITT (International Consultative Committee on Telegraph and Telephone) standards. The transition to a digital telecommunications standard became one of the most important strategic decisions for the company, which was confirmed in the early 70s with the release of the DX 200 switch. Equipped with a high-level computer language and Intel microprocessors at that time, it turned out to be so successful that it remains to this day The ideas contained in it are the basis for the company's telecommunications infrastructure.
At the same time, new legislation allowed, following the example of Sweden, the installation of mobile phones in cars and their connection to a common network. Since Nokia's main strategy in the 1980s was rapid expansion in all directions, the new prospects pushed Nokia to take decisive action. And the result was not long in coming: in 1981, a cellular network was created that covered Sweden and Finland and was called Nordic Mobile Telephony (NMT). It later included other countries both in Europe and beyond. The system was based on Nokia technologies. The mobile phone industry began to develop rapidly. Introduced in 1981, NMT became the first widely used cellular standard
In 1987, when all mobile phones produced were quite heavy and had large dimensions, Nokia released one of the lightest and most transportable mobile phones. This allowed us to win a significant part of the market.
In connection with the gradual unification of European markets in the late 80s, there was a need to develop a unified digital standard for mobile communications, later called GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications).
In 1989, Nokia and two Finnish telecommunications operators formed an alliance to launch the first GSM network. To avoid losing ground to competition from Telecom Finland, which had a long-standing, state-backed long-distance telephone monopoly, analogue mobile service providers Helsinki Telephone Corporation and Tampere Telephone Company created Radiolinja. This company bought $50 million worth of infrastructure from Nokia, even though it did not have a license for the new network.
Jorma Ollila, invited to Nokia by Kari Kairamo, headed the company's mobile phone department in 1990. There was a lot of talk about the new project; everything raised doubts: from the fundamental need for the existence of the network to technological issues. Still, the Nokia team believed in digital communications and continued their work.
On July 1, 1991, the very first call over a commercial GSM network was made by the Prime Minister of Finland - on a Nokia phone. The success of the project impressed the company's board of directors, and a year later Ollila was appointed CEO of Nokia. Jorma Ollila still holds this position and the post of chairman today.
Since 1996, telecommunications have become Nokia's core business. It was not in vain that the Finns took risks. After all, when Nokia invested its resources in GSM, it was a moderately successful company from a small country, challenging an already established billion-dollar infrastructure and a widely accepted standard. Soon the company enters into agreements to provide GSM networks to 9 more European countries. By August 1997, Nokia supplied GSM systems to 59 operators in 31 countries.
It must be said that by this time Finland was experiencing a deep decline in production. And despite the fact that in the 80s Nokia became the third manufacturer of televisions in Europe, and the company’s satellite receivers and the division involved in the production of car tires became very popular, especially considering the consistently high quality of the entire range of products offered, Nokia had to take a risky choice. In May 1992, Jorma Ollila, who headed the company, decided to cut all other departments and concentrate scientific and production capabilities on telecommunications. Today, when Nokia is a world leader in mobile communications and telecommunications, we can appreciate the correctness of this decision.
Secrets of success.
It was when the company got serious about producing mobile phones and other telecommunications products that it entered international markets. As a result, in the late 90s, Nokia became the market leader in digital communications technologies.
In a short time, thanks to its ability to sensitively respond to frequent market changes and instantly adopt the latest developments and technologies, the company has achieved global success. It is through a competent and thoughtful approach, as well as the right decisions - both in the field of technology and in the field of management and personnel policy - that Nokia has become a world-class mega-company. In just 6 years, this company has made a leap to world fame.
Jorma Ollila took over Nokia at a time when it needed a breath of fresh air. And the company soon began to rapidly increase its turnover. By 1997, Nokia was a manufacturer of mobile phones in almost all major digital standards: GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900, TDMA, CDMA and Japan Digital. Thanks to such extensive capabilities, the company was able to quickly strengthen its position in Europe and Asia.
Already in 1998, it announced a 70 percent increase in profits (210 billion euros), while its main competitors Ericsson and Motorola limited themselves to reports of a decrease in production rates. Demand for mobile phones continued to grow, and Nokia's market share grew along with it. In 1999, the company captured 27% of the mobile phone market, with Motorola, in second, lagging behind by as much as 10%. Today, Nokia is still the leader in the mobile phone market. What explains this rise? Let's try to understand the reasons for this success.
Story.
What distinguished it from ordinary Finnish companies was not only the desire for growth and innovation, but also the effective expansion of its scope of activities. In addition, Nokia distinguished itself by being the only one in its country to pursue a consistent policy of creating a complete chain of self-sufficiency: from production and development of new products to marketing, brand promotion, sales organization and the provision of related services.
Name.
First of all, Nokia's management decided that for successful promotion in the market it needed its own brand - the company was able to foresee that cell phones would soon become consumer products (before that, Nokia products were sold under the brands of mobile operators). She succeeded in solving the task in full - today, in the list of the most popular brands, the Nokia brand occupies eleventh place, between Marlboro (10th place) and Mercedes (12th).
Innovation.
One of the company's strategic goals has always been continuous renewal, which is manifested in skillful and constant segmentation, branding and design. Like Procter & Gamble, Nokia periodically launched new products in various categories to continuously dominate the market. Like Coca-Cola, Nokia gradually became a household name, but it did so much faster.
Technologies.
Nokia pays a lot of attention and invests heavily in technological developments. The main breakthrough, according to a number of experts, was an advanced and convenient menu system. It was she, as many believe, that gave impetus to expanding the functionality of the phone and gradually turning it not just into a communication device, but rather into an information device.
When many high-tech corporations in the USA and Canada focused exclusively on computer information technologies, European and Japanese companies became seriously involved in mobile telecommunications and wireless technologies. And Nokia was at the forefront of these “world transformers.” People want to communicate “anytime, anywhere,” and Nokia meets this demand. Even the Americans recognized that thanks to Nokia, the future of wireless communications belongs to Europe. Indicators such as the share of mobile phone ownership among the population and cellular coverage are much higher in Europe than in the United States. And that's not all: the lines between technologies are now blurring - they are merging into a single whole, and mobile telecommunications devices are reigning at the very center of the wireless information society of the new century.
We all know that the famous Finnish mobile brand Nokia was purchased by the American giant Microsoft. For several years, Nokia produced smartphones on the Windows Phone operating system, then Microsoft decided to become the owner of production facilities for its own OS and bought out the Finns. At a time when phone prices have remained at a stable level for several years, Nokia models are appearing less and less among flagships. It would seem that this is the end of the story of the legendary mobile phone manufacturer, but no. Interesting information from Chinese developers has leaked to the network. There was a rumor that a team of specialists, once involved in the development of the Nokia N9, is currently working on a new mobile device. . What’s most interesting is that this device, again according to rumors, will run on the Android operating system.
Microsoft, of course, is the owner of the Nokia trademark, but this does not in the least prevent the Finns from developing and producing other models of mobile phones that are not based on Windows Phone. The only question that arises is what name the new models will have. The Nokia brand today cannot be used by anyone other than Microsoft. Will we see the promotion of a new name, which will cost quite a large amount of money for a successful result, or will the Finns somehow come to an agreement with the Americans? We can confidently say that in the near future we will learn a lot of interesting news. The Finns themselves strongly hint at this on their official Twitter with one of their latest messages, which says that those who want to know how the further history of Nokia will develop will find out everything on November 17. Not long to wait!
Meanwhile, new products under the Nokia Lumia brand continue to go on sale. This time these are the 830, 730 Dual Sim and 735 LTE models. All of them were presented at Berlin IFA 2014. All three smartphones run on Windows Phone OS version 8.1. The 830th model has a large 5-inch display (1280*720 pixels) and a 10 MP main camera with proprietary Zeiss optics. The other two models are equipped with slightly smaller 4.7-inch screens with the same resolution. The 730 and 735 models focus on excellent front cameras with a resolution of 5 MP. Those who like to take selfies or often use video calls will appreciate these devices. And also, as the names indicate, 730 Dual Sim supports work with two SIM cards, and 735 LTE allows you to work in fourth-generation 4G networks. We are confident that each of these new products will find its consumer and will delight many users with its excellent work.
And one more thing I would like to talk about in this article is another interesting news from Microsoft. Once again, information has leaked from the Chinese (and how do they find out everything so quickly?) that Microsoft will soon present us with its new smartphone from the Lumia line, but without the Nokia logo. The Chinese, generous with information, report that the device will be called Lumia RM-1090. The characteristics of the model still remain a secret behind seven locks, but we still managed to find out something: the smartphone will have a 5-inch display (960*540 pixels), the battery in the device has a capacity of 1900 mAh, the device does not support 4G, but Can work with two SIM cards. Based on these characteristics, it is obvious that this model will be sold in the low or middle price segment.
Thus, by combining the information indicated at the beginning of the article that Nokia has prepared some kind of surprise for us on November 17, with information about the imminent appearance of a new smartphone within the Lumia line, but without the Nokia logo, we can draw certain conclusions. Exactly what conclusions we will leave to the reader. Let us simply observe how events unfold around the most famous Finnish company.
About Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation. The company's headquarters is located in Espoo, a satellite city of the capital of Finland - Helsinki. Nokia produces mobile devices, as well as equipment for mobile, fixed-line, broadband and IP networks. Nokia Corporation employs approximately 132,000 employees in 120 countries. Nokia is the world's largest mobile phone maker: its global mobile device market share was 31% in the fourth quarter of 2010, up from approximately 30% in the third quarter of 2010, but up from approximately 35% in the fourth quarter of 2009. The sales area covers more than 150 countries, Nokia's global annual revenue is more than 42 billion, operating profit is ? 2 billion as of 2010.
Nokia activities
Nokia produces mobile devices for all major market segments and protocols, including GSM, CDMA and W-CDMA (UMTS). Nokia offers internet services such as apps, games, music, maps, media and messaging through the Ovi platform. Nokia's products include mobile phones, smartphones, equipment for GSM networks, wireless communication systems, GPS navigators, Internet tablets, and netbooks. In addition, Nokia and its subsidiary Nokia Siemens Networks work in the production of telecommunications equipment and IT solutions. Nokia is also involved in providing free digital map information and navigation services through its subsidiary Navteq.
Nokia history
Nokia's history dates back to 1865, when Finnish engineer Knut Fredrik Idestam founded a small paper mill in Tampere, southwest Finland, which was named Nokia Ab in 1871. Subsequently, the rubber products factory Finnish Rubber Works took control of the company. At the same time, it gained control of the cable production factory Finnish Cable Works. As a result of the merger of three companies, one company was created, and in accordance with the then legislation of Finland and legal nuances, it received its name from the smallest one, i.e. Nokia Ab.
After the merger, Nokia Ab was engaged in activities in five areas, such as the production of rubber products, cable products and electronics, wood processing and electrical energy generation. Later, these activities were supplemented by the production of hunting rifles, plastics and chemical materials. In the 1980s of the last century, Nokia took the development and production of radio electronics as its main activity. In those days, this was an extremely promising area of production, however, even then there was serious competition. Nokia has found its niche in the field of radio communications and has reached unprecedented heights in this direction. In the mid-1990s, the company prioritized the direction of mobile communications, which allowed it to reach 39% of the mobile phone market at the end of 2009.
Nokia logo
Old Nokia logos
The first picture shows the logo of Nokia, which was founded in 1865 and has been used since 1871. The second picture shows the brand logo of the Finnish Rubber Works, which was founded in Helsinki in 1898, as the logo was used in 1965-1966. The third and fourth pictures show more modern Nokia logos. The arrow logo was a precursor to the famous "Connecting People", which later became the company's motto. Nokia introduced its advertising slogan "Connecting People" in 1992. An interesting fact is that it was written in Times Roman SC (Small Caps). The modern Nokia logo has not undergone major changes; it has been used since 2006.
The first Nokia mobile phones
The technologies that preceded modern cellular mobile telephony were called "0G" and were originally developed as mobile radiotelephone networks. Part of the Nokia company has been a manufacturer of commercial and some military mobile radio technologies since 1960, although this part of the company was later sold. In 1966, Nokia and Salora began developing the ARP standard (which stands for Autoradiopuhelin, or car radio telephone from English), which was based on a car equipped with a mobile radio telephone system. This became the first commercial public mobile network in Finland. It started working in 1971 and showed 100% coverage in 1978.
In 1979, as a result of interaction between Nokia and Salora, Mobira was created. Mobira begins developing mobile phones for the NMT (Nordic Mobile Telephony) standard of the first generation network. In 1982, Mobira introduced its first car phone, the Mobira Senator for NMT-450 networks. Later, in 1984, Nokia bought Salora. The company name becomes Nokia-Mobira. At the same time, Mobira Talkman is launched, one of the first portable phones in the world. In 1987, Nokia introduced one of the world's first portable phones, the Mobira Cityman 900 for NMT-900 networks (which, compared to the NMT-450, offered better signal quality). At that time, the 1982 Mobira Senator weighed 9.8 kg, the Talkman just under 5 kg, the Mobira Cityman weighed only 800 grams with battery and had a price of 24,000 Finnish marks (that's about? 4560).
Despite the high price, the first cell phones were practically snatched from sellers. Of course, the presence of such a phone indicated the high status of the owner. This continued until the end of the 90s of the last century, when even low-income pensioners could afford a mobile phone. Nokia mobile phones did a good job of advertising for themselves in 1987 when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was pictured with a Mobira Cityman calling a minister in Moscow from Helsinki. After this, the phone acquired the popular name “Gorba”. In 1988, Nokia-Mobira CEO Jorma Nieminen, along with two other employees of the mobile phone division, left the company, later founding their own - Benefon. A year later, Nokia-Mobira becomes Nokia Mobile Phones, choosing the development of mobile phones as a priority area of activity.
Nokia's participation in the development of GSM
Nokia is one of the key developers of GSM (Global System Mobile). The second generation of mobile technologies that can transmit data as well as voice traffic. By building NMT networks, Nokia gained valuable experience to participate in the development of GSM, which was adopted in 1987 as the new European standard for digital mobile technologies.
Nokia introduced its first GSM networks to the Finnish operator Radiolinja in 1989. The world's first commercial GSM call was made on July 1, 1991 in Helsinki. The first GSM phone, the Nokia 1011, was launched in 1992. The model number in this case refers to the launch date, November 10th. The Nokia 1011 has not yet used the proprietary Nokia Tune ringtone. It was introduced as the main ringtone in 1994 with the Nokia 2100 series phones.
GSM technology, high-quality voice calls, easy international roaming and support for new services such as text messaging (SMS) laid the foundations for the global mobile phone boom. GSM networks came to dominate the mobile telephony world in the 1990s, and by mid-2008 accounted for approximately three billion mobile phone subscribers worldwide, with more than 700 mobile operators in 218 countries and territories.
Nokia personal computers and IT equipment
In the 1980s, Nokia produced a series of personal computers called MikroMikko. MikroMikko was Nokia's attempt to enter the computer business. The first model in the line, MikroMikko 1, was released on September 29, 1981. Around the same time as the first IBM computer. However, the personal computer division was later sold to the British ICL (International Computer Limited) in 1991, which later became part of Fujitsu. MikroMikko later became a trademark of ICL and then Fujitsu.
Nokia was also known for producing high quality CRT and early TFT LCD displays for large systems and professional applications. In 2000, this line of business was sold to ViewSonic. In addition to personal computers and displays, Nokia is also involved in the production of DSL modems and digital set-top boxes. On August 24, 2009, Nokia re-entered the PC market with the release of the Nokia Booklet 3G Mini-laptop. The new product received an Intel Atom 1600 MHz processor, 10.1 inch, with a resolution of 1280x720, a widescreen display, 1 gigabyte of RAM and a 120 GB hard drive.
Modern Nokia mobile phones
In the mid-1990s, as mobile communications began to become ubiquitous around the world, Nokia almost immediately took a leading position in the market. At the moment, she is one of the few who have managed to preserve their name to this day in the fierce competition of the developing mobile device market. Today, Nokia's line of mobile phones includes about 250 models.
In 2003, Nokia launches its first 3G phone, the Nokia 6650, and the N-Gage series of gaming phones. In 2005, Nokia introduced a new generation of multimedia devices called Nokia Nseries. The new word “Smartphones” is still strongly associated with Nokia N series mobile devices. The key feature of all smartphones is serious hardware and an operating system that seriously expands the functionality of the phones. Now phones not only make calls, they also act as a small computer on which you can perform operations with documents, files, surf the Internet, and edit music and videos. Smartphones are more expensive than regular phones, yet they are quickly gaining popularity. In 2007, Nokia was recognized as the fifth most valuable brand in the world.
Alliance of Nokia and Microsoft
On February 11, 2011, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop introduced a new strategic alliance with Microsoft and announced his intention to replace Symbian with Windows Phone 7. However, Nokia wants to retain Symbian for use in mid-range and low-end mobile devices. It will also invest in the Series 40 platform and continue its joint project with Intel - MeeGo OS in 2011.
As part of its restructuring plan, Nokia plans to cut research and development costs and refocus its efforts on expanding and customizing software for Windows Phone 7. The Ovi app store will be integrated into the Microsoft Marketplace. Following the announcement of the alliance, Nokia's share prices fell 14%, the biggest drop since July 2009. Since Nokia is the largest mobile phone manufacturer worldwide, this alliance will make Microsoft Phone 7's Windows OS an even stronger rival to Android and iOS.
Gadget manufacturers
The rise of Nokia is truly an incredible business story. They have managed to become one of the leading manufacturers of telecommunications equipment, as well as one of the most profitable brands specializing in the production of mobile devices. However, the company did not always do this. Where did it all begin?The predecessors of the modern company were Nokia Aktiebolag, as well as two factories for the production of cables and rubber. Their story began when a Finnish mining engineer installed wood mills on the banks of the Tammerkoski River in the city of Tampere, located in southwestern Finland (then part of the Russian Empire), in 1865.
The company's founder, Knut Frederik Idestam, was born in 1838 in Helsinki. He received a master's degree in mining and relevant training. Following in his father's footsteps, Frederick initially planned to pursue a career as a civil servant.
In the 60s of the 9th century, Idestam was engaged in research on basic metals in Saxony with funds from a government scholarship from the Finnish Senate. At the same time, he received a position as a mining engineer in Finland. However, by the summer of 1864, Frederick’s career plans had changed: on his way back from Saxony through the Harz Mountains, he visited a defiber mill.
It was a truly new invention, which was a plant that produced raw materials for the production of paper from wood. The technology and equipment were developed by Heinrich Walter. Idestam found work already at the stage of industrial production.
Like many others, he witnessed the ever-increasing demand for paper in the industrial world of Europe and North America. However, production was unable to develop due to a lack of raw materials, and any means of increasing supplies were absent. Idestam believed that Walter's solution to the raw materials problem was correct. He also understood the importance of this innovation for Finland.
The vast Finnish forests could provide an unlimited supply of raw materials, and among them there were also waterfalls and rapids that could provide the necessary power to the mills.
As soon as Frederic Idestam returned home, he ordered the machines designed by Walter from Germany, and received permission to operate them from the Senate in the spring of 1865 - that is, the year that is considered the founding of the Nokia company. The mill began its production near the lower rapids of the Tammerkoski river in Tampere at the beginning of 1866.
It must be said that Idestam was not the first in his field in Finland at that time. The pharmacist Achates Thuneberg also founded a defiber mill near Vyborg in 1860, apparently independently of Walter. However, Thuneberg's mill was not as good as Idestam's, and the small business was soon closed.
Unlike Achates, Frederick not only achieved success, but also attracted competitors. Like Voltaire in Germany, Idestam was able to generate vigorous sales of his products. Wood pulp was cheaper than cellulose rags, and consumers (as well as manufacturers) found it an excellent alternative.
In the winter of 1866, Tampereen Sanomat became the first Finnish newspaper to be printed on wood-based paper. Another Helsinki publication also soon followed suit. Soon after this, at the Paris Exhibition, Idestam was awarded a bronze medal.
This was a decisive breakthrough. By the way, at the same exhibition Walter became a well-deserved winner of a gold medal. Perhaps it was then that the world realized the importance of Walter’s equipment and the technology he proposed.
The second plant was built by Idestam in 1868. Several factories were also created in the early 70s. Although Finland lagged behind Norway and Sweden in the sawmill industry by almost twenty years, the wood pulp industry in all three Nordic countries began to develop at about the same time and at the same pace.
From the first half of the 1970s until the outbreak of the First World War, the share of the chemical forest industry in Finland's total exports rose from zero to 20%, and at the same time the value of total Finnish exports increased tenfold.
In 1871, Idestam turned his company into a joint venture. Nokia Ltd. was founded by him together with his close friend Leo Mechelin, after which Idestam began building a new plant. Frederick owned more than half the shares in the firm. The company's development was going well.
Idestam was a careful business manager, and his financial planning later helped him through difficult times. Unlike many other pioneers of Finnish industry who overcame the crisis, in the early 80s of the 9th century he was able to build three paper making machines, as well as the first sulphite-pulp mills in Finland.
By the end of the 80s, Nokia was processing all wood and chemical wood pulps into paper.
Leopold Heinrich Mechelin was a Finnish professor, statesman, senator and liberal reformer. A leading advocate for the autonomy of the Grand Duchy of Finland, as well as the rights of women and minorities, Mechelin made Finland the first nation in the world to have universal voting rights and the right to be elected.
His term in office is also associated with the emergence of freedom of speech, press and assembly. In the early 1980s he became the founder of the Finnish Liberal Party and wrote its program, and was one of the founders of Union Bank (now part of Nordea Bank). In 1871, he founded the Nokia company together with Idestam.
Mechelin is also remembered as the first chairman of the Helsinki City Council, a respected international expert on political science and a participant in the peace movement. In 1876 he was granted the title by Alexander II.
Leo Mechelin graduated from the University of Helsinki with bachelor's and master's degrees in philosophy, as well as a bachelor's degree in law, and a license and doctorate a few years later.
As a professor of political science, he argued that the tsars were bound by the old constitutional laws since Swedish rule, and confirmed that Finland was a separate constitutional state that the tsar could rule only according to law, while in Russia he had absolute power.
During periods of oppression, the tsar tried to impose unconstitutional laws, which Mechelin opposed. As a result of Russian and Finnish unrest, the Tsar had to comply with the November Manifesto, written by Mechelin.
This allowed the latter to form a government and make Finland a country with the first liberal democracy (for example, in New Zealand, women at that time also had the right to vote, but could not be elected, and in Australia only white people had such rights).
In 1907, the first general elections to a unicameral parliament (called "eduskunta" in Finnish) took place, and nineteen of its first two hundred members were women. After Mechelin's death and two revolutions in Russia, Finland was finally allowed to declare its independence, and Mechelin's young colleagues were able to complete the work they had begun.
Thus, Idestam's friend and roommate during his student years, Leopold, played a very important role in history.
Mechelin also greatly helped the development of Nokia. His desire to expand the electric power business was initially opposed by the Idests, but Mechelin managed to convince the majority of shareholders of the need for this, and, having become chairman of the company in 1898, he was able to realize his plan.
Another person who was the founder of Nokia is Finnish business leader Eduard Polon. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of the company. Eduard is known as the man who led the development of the Finnish rubber industry (he was the largest shareholder of Suomen Gummitehdas).
Thanks to him, the Finnish wood and cable industry was formed. It was Polon who decided to use the name “Nokia” (this was the name of the Finnish city where his factories were opened) as a trademark for his products so that they would differ from the products of his Russian competitors. The legacy of his Suomen Gummitehdas was taken over by Nokian Tyres.
Eduard Polon remained the owner, managing director and chairman of the group of companies that later formed Nokia for thirty years. In 1898, he founded the Finnish Rubber Works company, which was engaged in the production of galoshes and other rubber products (it was later owned by Nokia).
Shortly after the First World War the business was on the verge of bankruptcy. To continue supplying electricity from Nokia generators, Finnish Rubber Works acquired the business of an insolvent company.
In 1960, the first electronics department was created, laying the foundation for Nokia's telecommunications future. Seven years later, the industrial conglomerate Nokia Corporation was formed. The new company was involved in many industries.
At various times, it produced paper products, shoes, communication cables, bicycle and car tires, televisions and other consumer electronics, personal computers, capacitors, plastics, military communications, chemicals, etc. Each division had its own director.
In the 1990s, the company entered the consumer electronics market and focused exclusively on emerging telecommunications segments. In 1988, tire manufacturer Nokian Tires split off from the company, and two years later, Nokian Footwear, which produced rubber shoes, split off.
Nokia also sold its paper business in '89; Today the owner of Nokian Paperi is SCA. In subsequent years, Nokia divested itself of other businesses.
The company began working on network equipment in the 70s of the 20th century. In the late 1990s, she also became a software partner with Check Point.
Beginning in 1960, the company worked on commercial and some military radio technologies. Around the same time, Nokia was developing VHF. In 1966, the company began working on the ARP (automobile radiotelephone) standard together with Salora.
It was presented online already in 1971. In 1979, both companies merged and created Mobira Oy, after which they began to develop mobile phones of the NMT standard (Nordic Mobile Telephony - first generation networks, the first fully automatic cellular system in Finland).
The first car phone was introduced in 1982. One of the first mobile devices in the world was Mobira Talkman, which appeared two years later.
In 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev was photographed calling his communications minister in Moscow from Helsinki. He was talking on a Nokia Mobira Cityman phone.
Following this, the company became a leading developer of GSM - second generation mobile networks. Nokia launched its first such phone in 1992. At that time, Nokia 1011 did not yet have the characteristic Nokia tune ringtone - it was introduced only in 1994, when the 2100 series appeared.
High quality voice communications, easy international roaming and the emergence of new functions (like short messages) predetermined a worldwide boom in the use of mobile devices. In the 90s, GSM was already the main communication system. Connections grew at a rate of 15 per second, that is, 1.3 million per day.
At the end of 2000, the company released the 3310 (successor to the 3210), a device that became one of the most popular devices of all time. The company was also one of the first to recognize the market benefit of creating a device that combined the qualities of a mobile phone and a games console. The N-Gage became such a device.
By 2009, the company re-entered the personal computer market with the announcement of the high-end netbook Booklet 3G.
Nokia also entered the smartphone market. Until 2011, Symbian remained the main platform for such devices. Linux was next.
The first devices that the company released using this system were tablets. Following this, it was the turn of the Android platform. Additionally, the alliance with Microsoft preceded the release of Windows Phone smartphones known as Lumia.
In 2012, the company experienced certain financial difficulties. This led to massive layoffs around the world, the closure of production and research centers, a drop in stock prices, and so on. By the end of 2013, 24.5 thousand employees had already been laid off.
In the same year, Nokia tried to save the situation by announcing new products, which became smartphones. Unfortunately, there was still no profit. Revenues fell more than 20%. The company faced its greatest challenges in the US and China. Profit figures were extremely low.
That same year, the company sold its mobile business to Microsoft. Steve Ballmer called the deal a "bold step into the future" for both firms. Be that as it may, it was inevitable. It was planned that the deal would be closed in early spring 2014, but due to a tax dispute this happened only at the end of April.
Now mobile assets have become part of Microsoft Mobile, a new subsidiary of the corporation. Part of the deal also included the acquisition of the Asha and Lumia brands (but only with a limited license to the Nokia brand).
In the summer of 2014, it was reported that Microsoft was now focusing exclusively on Windows Phone.
In late fall 2014, it also became known that Nokia plans to re-enter the consumer electronics business by licensing technologies and hardware designs to third-party manufacturers.
It was stated that the brand “is falling in price, and therefore it is necessary that this trend be restored very quickly, in the near future.” The head of the company noted that all released devices will be of high quality.
