For decades, Nokia has been the talk of the town. The titanic telecom was famous for its hardware and battery life. Nokia’s mobiles were world-famous for their user satisfaction. In 1996, they launched the first-ever internet-enabled mobiles, and by the start of the 21st century, Nokia launched a touch-screen mobile demo.
This sparked the revolution in the mobile phone industry, making Nokia the biggest cell phone maker company in 1998. It even raced ahead of Motorola. But, what happened?
Resistance
Nokia stayed stubborn even when other mobile phone manufacturers were developing and working on their phones. Nokia was still in the bubble that people would not purchase touch screen phones and use the QWERTY keypad input. Soon, Samsung released its Android-powered array of smartphones, which were reasonable in price and user-friendly.
This total misunderstanding began the downfall of Nokia. Nokia never decided to accept the Android operating system (OS) because they did not consider it an advancement. Nokia launched its Symbian OS, but it was far too behind as Apple and Samsung stamped their positions. The Symbian OS’s inability to capture consumers’ minds was the biggest reason for Nokia’s downfall.
The deal
Nokia’s deal with Microsoft was another deep hole. The once telecom mammoth sold itself to Microsoft when they were drowning in losses. Nokia’s sales roared its inability to survive on its own. Simultaneously, Apple and Samsung were developing with innovation and technological advancements. It became too late to catch the train for Nokia. The acquisition of Microsoft is considered one of the biggest blunders as it did not bear fruit for either party.
Overestimation
Nokia overestimated the strength of its brand value. The company thought that the general mass would still barge into stores and buy their cell phones, even after the late launch of its range of smartphones. What a misconception! People still believe in Nokia regaining the market leadership if it adapts and accepts Android. However, the exact opposite is the truth seen today.
Lacking
Nokia was lacking in the innovation of its products. Nokia just launched a Windows phone with basic elements, while brands like Samsung and Apple developed advanced phones. Even the Nokia Lumia series collapsed due to a lack of innovation. The dull and almost-dead features did not help. Nokia did not even have 3G-enabled phones when 4G was the latest in telecom.
The Finnish giant was making the wrong decisions all along. They restrained from adapting to the latest technology, and this deprived their sight of success. Nokia’s failure became a lesson to hold on to continuous evolution and adoption of new tech.
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Interesting article. I have always been curious about how Nokia enjoyed a monopoly for so long. Thanks for shedding some light on the topic.
Thank you, I appreciate it!