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Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational
telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...
,
information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...
, and
consumer electronics Consumer electronics, also known as home electronics, are electronic devices intended for everyday household use. Consumer electronics include those used for entertainment, Communication, communications, and recreation. Historically, these prod ...
corporation, originally established as a
pulp mill A pulp mill is a manufacturing facility that converts wood chips or other plant fiber sources into a thick fiber board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing. Pulp can be manufactured using mechanical, semi-chemical, or ...
in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in
Espoo Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...
, Finland, in the
Helsinki metropolitan area Helsinki metropolitan area (, ) or Greater Helsinki (, ) is the metropolitan area around Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. It also includes the smaller Helsinki capital region, capital region. The terms Helsinki metropolitan area, Greater H ...
, but the company's actual roots are in the
Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...
region of
Pirkanmaa Pirkanmaa (; ; ), also known as ''Tampere Region'' in government documents, is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, South Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Päijät-Häme, Kanta-Häme and Southwest Finland. Most of the wate ...
.HS: Nokian juuret ovat Tammerkosken rannalla
(in Finnish)
In 2020, Nokia employed approximately 92,000 people across over 100 countries, did business in more than 130 countries, and reported annual revenues of around €23 billion. Nokia is a
public limited company A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a limited liability co ...
listed on the
Nasdaq Helsinki Nasdaq Helsinki, formerly known as the Helsinki Stock Exchange (, ), is a stock exchange located in Helsinki, Finland. Since 3 September 2003, it has been part of Nasdaq Nordic (previously called ''OMX''). After the OMX merger, it was referred t ...
and
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
. It was the world's 415th-largest company measured by 2016 revenues, according to the ''Fortune'' Global 500'','' having peaked at 85th place in 2009. It is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50
stock market index In finance, a stock index, or stock market index, is an Index (economics), index that measures the performance of a stock market, or of a subset of a stock market. It helps investors compare current stock price levels with past prices to calcul ...
. The company has operated in various industries over the past 150 years. It was founded as a
pulp mill A pulp mill is a manufacturing facility that converts wood chips or other plant fiber sources into a thick fiber board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing. Pulp can be manufactured using mechanical, semi-chemical, or ...
and had long been associated with
rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...
and cables, but since the 1990s has focused on large-scale
telecommunications infrastructure Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...
, technology development, and licensing. Nokia made significant contributions to the
mobile telephony Mobile telephony is the provision of wireless telephone services to mobile phones, distinguishing it from fixed-location telephony provided via landline phones. Traditionally, telephony specifically refers to voice communication, though th ...
industry, assisting in the development of the
GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...
, 3G, and LTE standards. For a decade beginning in 1998, Nokia was the largest worldwide vendor of
mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...
s and
smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...
s. In the later 2000s, however, Nokia suffered from a series of poor management decisions and soon saw its share of the mobile phone market drop sharply. After a partnership with
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
and Nokia's subsequent market struggles, in 2014, Microsoft bought Nokia's mobile phone business, incorporating it as Microsoft Mobile. After the sale, Nokia began to focus more on its telecommunications infrastructure business and on
Internet of things Internet of things (IoT) describes devices with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other communication networks. The IoT encompasse ...
technologies, marked by the divestiture of its Here mapping division and the acquisition of
Alcatel-Lucent Alcatel-Lucent S.A. () was a multinational telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France. The company focused on Fixed line telephone, fixed, Mobile phone, mobile and telecommunications convergence, ...
, including its
Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey, the compa ...
research organization. The company then also experimented with
virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...
and digital health, the latter through the purchase of Withings. The Nokia brand returned to the mobile and smartphone market in 2016 through a licensing arrangement with HMD. Nokia continues to be a major
patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...
licensor for most large mobile phone vendors. Nokia is the world's third-largest network equipment manufacturer. The company was viewed with national pride by
Finns Finns or Finnish people (, ) are a Baltic Finns, Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these cou ...
, as its mobile phone business made it by far the largest worldwide company and brand from Finland. At its peak in 2000, Nokia accounted for 4% of the country's GDP, 21% of total exports, and 70% of the
Nasdaq Helsinki Nasdaq Helsinki, formerly known as the Helsinki Stock Exchange (, ), is a stock exchange located in Helsinki, Finland. Since 3 September 2003, it has been part of Nasdaq Nordic (previously called ''OMX''). After the OMX merger, it was referred t ...
market capital.


History


1865–1967

Nokia's history dates from 1865, when mining engineer Fredrik Idestam established a
pulp mill A pulp mill is a manufacturing facility that converts wood chips or other plant fiber sources into a thick fiber board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing. Pulp can be manufactured using mechanical, semi-chemical, or ...
on the shores of the
Tammerkoski Tammerkoski is a channel of rapids in Tampere, Finland. The city of Tampere is located between two lakes, Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi (Tampere region), Pyhäjärvi. The difference in altitude between these two is and the water flows from Näsij ...
rapids near the town of
Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...
, Finland (then a Grand Duchy under
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
's rule). A second pulp mill was opened in 1868 near the neighboring town of Nokia, where there were better
hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...
resources. In 1871, Idestam, together with a friend Leo Mechelin, formed a shared company and called it ''Nokia Ab'' (in Swedish, ''Nokia Company'' being the English equivalent), after the site of the second pulp mill. Idestam retired in 1896, making Mechelin the company's chairman; he expanded into
electricity generation Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For electric utility, utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its Electricity delivery, delivery (Electric power transm ...
by 1902, which Idestam had opposed. In 1904, Suomen Gummitehdas (''Finnish Rubber Works''), a
rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...
business founded by Eduard Polón, established a factory near the town of Nokia and used its name. In 1922, in the now independent Finland, Nokia Ab entered into a partnership with the Finnish Rubber Works and Kaapelitehdas (''the Cable Factory''), all now jointly under the leadership of Polón. The rubber company grew rapidly when it moved to the Nokia region in the 1930s to take advantage of the electricity supply, and the cable company soon did too. Nokia at the time also made
respirator A respirator is a device designed to protect the wearer from inhaling hazardous atmospheres including lead, lead fumes, vapors, gases and particulate matter such as dusts and airborne pathogens such as viruses. There are two main categories o ...
s for both civilian and military use, from the 1930s well into the early 1990s.


1967–1990

In 1967, the three companies – Nokia, Kaapelitehdas, and Finnish Rubber Works – merged to create a new Nokia Corporation, restructured into four major businesses: forestry, cable, rubber, and electronics. In the early 1970s, it entered the networking and radio industries. Nokia started making military equipment for Finland's defence forces (''Puolustusvoimat''), such as the Sanomalaite M/90 communicator in 1983, and the M61 gas mask first developed in the 1960s. Nokia was now also making professional mobile radios, telephone switches,
capacitor In electrical engineering, a capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy by accumulating electric charges on two closely spaced surfaces that are insulated from each other. The capacitor was originally known as the condenser, a term st ...
s and
chemicals A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...
. After Finland's trade agreement with the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
in the 1960s, Nokia expanded into the Soviet market. It soon widened trade, ranging from automatic
telephone exchange A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a central component of a telecommunications system in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It facilitates the establishment of communication circuits ...
s to
robotics Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...
among others; by the late 1970s, the Soviet Union became a major market for Nokia, yielding high profits. The U.S. government became increasingly concerned of the possible export of items it deemed as high technology, such as digital telephone exchanges, to the Soviet Union in the 1980s. This led to Finland entering the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls in 1987. This was a demonstration of Finland balancing between both sides, as it was neutral during the Cold War. In 1977,
Kari Kairamo Kari Antero Oswald Kairamo, titled ''Vuorineuvos'' (31 December 1932 – 11 December 1988), was chairman and CEO of the Nokia Corporation and a significant and popular person in the industry, who was also actively involved in Finland's foreign p ...
became CEO and transformed the company's businesses. By this time, Finland was becoming what has been called "Nordic Japan". Under his leadership, Nokia acquired many companies, including television maker Salora in 1984, followed by Swedish electronics and computer maker Luxor AB in 1985, and French television maker Oceanic in 1987. This made Nokia the third-largest television manufacturer of Europe (behind
Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...
and Thomson). The existing brands continued to be used until the end of the television business in 1996. In 1987, Nokia acquired Schaub-Lorenz, the consumer operations of Germany's Standard Elektrik Lorenz (SEL), which included its "Schaub-Lorenz" and "Graetz" brands. It was originally part of American conglomerate International Telephone & Telegraph (ITT), and after the acquisition products were sold under the "ITT Nokia" brand, despite SEL's sale to Compagnie Générale d'Electricité (CGE), the predecessor of Alcatel, in 1986. In 1987, Kaapelitehdas discontinued production of cables at its
Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
factory after 44 years, effectively shutting down the sub-company. On 1 April 1988, Nokia bought the Information Systems division of
Ericsson (), commonly known as Ericsson (), is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Ericsson has been a major contributor to the development of the telecommunications industry and is one ...
, which had originated as the Datasaab computer division of Swedish aircraft and car manufacturer Saab. Ericsson Information Systems made Alfaskop terminals,
typewriter A typewriter is a Machine, mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of Button (control), keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an i ...
s,
minicomputer A minicomputer, or colloquially mini, is a type of general-purpose computer mostly developed from the mid-1960s, built significantly smaller and sold at a much lower price than mainframe computers . By 21st century-standards however, a mini is ...
s and Ericsson-branded IBM compatible PCs. The merger with Nokia's Information Systems division—which since 1981 had a line of personal computers called MikroMikko—resulted in the name Nokia Data. Nokia also acquired Mobira, a mobile radio telephone manufacturer that had been established in a
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
with Salora Oy in 1979, which became the foundation of its future mobile phone business. In 1981, Mobira launched the
Nordic Mobile Telephone NMT (''Nordic Mobile Telephony'') is an automatic cellular phone system specified by Nordic countries, Nordic telecommunications administrations (Postal Telephone and Telegraph, PTTs) and opened for service on 1 October 1981. NMT is based on ana ...
(NMT) service, the world's first international cellular network and the first to allow international roaming. In 1982, Mobira launched the Mobira Senator car phone, Nokia's first mobile phone. At that time, the company had no interest in producing mobile phones, which the executive board regarded as akin to
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
's gadgets: improbably futuristic and niche devices. After all these acquisitions, Nokia's revenue base became US$2.7 billion. CEO Kairamo killed himself on 11 December 1988. Mobira 800-NDB.JPG, Mobira 800-NDB non-directional beacon located in the Finnish Air Force signals museum Lasersuunnin merivoimien vuosipäivä 2013 Kotka 3.JPG, Nokia MAC 8532 laser rangefinder previously used by Finnish coastal artillery Patteriston komentopaikka Hämeenlinna 2.JPG, Hämeenlinna artillery museum display containing fire control officer with Nokia artillery calculator in Finnish artillery battalion command post MikroMikko 4 TT m216 Tekniikan museo 02.jpg, Late 1980s MikroMikko 4 TT m216 desktop computer in the Museum of Technology, Helsinki, Finland Itt-nokia television and vhs-video.jpeg, ITT Nokia television with an ITT Nokia VCR (ITT/SEL) Mobira kaukohakulaite.png, A 1986 Mobira pager


1990–2010

Following
Simo Vuorilehto Simo Vuorilehto, titled '' Vuorineuvos'', (8 August 1930 – 13 June 2024) was a Finnish businessman who was the chairman and CEO of Nokia Corporation. He became the chairman and CEO in 1988 after the death of Kari Kairamo. In 1990 he was replac ...
's appointment as CEO, a major restructuring was planned. With 11 groups within the company, Vuorilehto divested industrial units he deemed as un-strategic. Nokian Tyres (''Nokian Renkaat''), a tyre producer originally formed as a division of Finnish Rubber Works in 1932, split away from Nokia Corporation in 1988. Two years later, in 1990, Finnish Rubber Works followed suit. In 1991, Nokia sold its computer division, Nokia Data, to UK-based
International Computers Limited International Computers Limited (ICL) was a British computer hardware, computer software and computer services company that operated from 1968 until 2002. It was formed through a merger of International Computers and Tabulators (ICT), English Ele ...
(ICL), the precursor of Fujitsu Siemens. Investors thought of this as financial trouble and Nokia's stock price sank as a result. Finland was now also experiencing its worst recession in living memory, and the collapse of the Soviet Union, a major customer, made matters worse. Vuorilehto quit in January 1992 and was replaced by Jorma Ollila, who had been the head of the mobile phone business from 1990 and advised against selling that division. Ollila decided to turn Nokia into a " telecom-oriented" company, and he eventually got rid of divisions like the power business. This strategy proved to be very successful, and the company grew rapidly in the following years. Nokia's operating profit went from negative in 1991 to $1 billion in 1995 and almost $4 billion by 1999. Nokia's first fully portable mobile phone after the Mobira Senator was the Mobira Cityman 900 in 1987. Nokia assisted in the development of the
GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...
mobile standard in the 1980s and developed the first GSM network with
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...
, the predecessor to Nokia Siemens Network. The world's first GSM call was made by Finnish prime minister Harri Holkeri on 1 July 1991, using Nokia equipment on the 900 MHz band network built by Nokia and operated by Radiolinja. In November 1992, the
Nokia 1011 The Nokia 1011 (NHE-2X5, NHE-2XN) is the first mass-produced GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devi ...
launched, making it the first commercially available GSM mobile phone. Salora Oy as a Nokia subsidiary ended in 1989 when the division was merged into Nokia-Mobira Oy. The brand continued to be used for televisions until 1995. On 12 June 1996, Nokia announced the sale of its
television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
business to Canada/Hong Kong-based
Semi-Tech Corporation International Semi-Tech Microsystems or Semi-Tech Microsystems (STM) was a Canada, Canadian-based household and consumer products firm in Markham, Ontario. Semi-Tech Corporation's former head offices were at 131 McNabb Street (Warden Avenue and ...
. The television manufacturing plant in Germany closed down in September 1996. The sale included a factory in
Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...
and the rights to use the Nokia, Finlux,
Luxor Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt. Luxor had a population of 263,109 in 2020, with an area of approximately and is the capital of the Luxor Governorate. It is among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited c ...
, Salora, Schaub-Lorenz, and Oceanic brands until the end of 1999. Some of these brands were later sold to other companies. Nokia was the first to launch digital satellite receivers in the UK, announced in March 1997. In August 1997, Nokia introduced the first digital satellite receiver with Common Interface (CI) support. In 1998, Nokia became the chosen supplier to produce the world's first
digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV, DTT, or DTTB) is a technology for terrestrial television, in which television stations broadcast television content in a digital signal, digital format. Digital terrestrial television is a major technologica ...
set-top boxes by British Digital Broadcasting (BDB), which was eventually launched as ONdigital. In October 1998, Nokia overtook
Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...
to become the best-selling mobile phone brand and in December, manufactured its 100 millionth mobile phone. A major reason why Nokia grew against its main competitors Motorola and
Ericsson (), commonly known as Ericsson (), is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Ericsson has been a major contributor to the development of the telecommunications industry and is one ...
was that it managed to cater to the consumer youth market and fashion-oriented consumers, most significantly with the Nokia 5110 and 3210 handsets, which featured a large range of colourful and replaceable back covers called Xpress-on. One of the earliest fashion phones in 1992, from Swiss watchmaker Swatch, was based on Nokia's 101 handset. The company would also form the Vertu division, creating luxury mobile handsets. In April 1996, Nokia claimed its 447Xav and 447K monitors to be the first with
stereo Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...
speakers and a subwoofer. In May 1999, Nokia introduced their first
wireless LAN A wireless LAN (WLAN) is a wireless computer network that links two or more devices using wireless communication to form a local area network (LAN) within a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, campus, or office building ...
products. In January 2000, ViewSonic acquired Nokia Display Products, the division making displays for personal computers. On 26 April 2001, Nokia partnered with
Telefónica , S.A. () is a Spanish multinational telecommunications company with registered office and headquarters located in two different places, both in Madrid, Spain. It is one of the largest telephone operators and mobile network providers in the ...
to supply
DSL Digital subscriber line (DSL; originally digital subscriber loop) is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric di ...
modems and routers in Spain. In 1997, Nokia established a
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
with Brazilian electronics firm
Gradient In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function f of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p gives the direction and the rate of fastest increase. The g ...
where they were granted the license to manufacture variants of Nokia mobile phones locally under the Nokia and Gradient brand names. In 1998, Nokia cofounded Symbian Ltd., led by Psion, to create a new operating system for PDAs and smart mobile phones as a successor of EPOC32. They released the Nokia 9210 Communicator running
Symbian OS Symbian is a discontinued mobile operating system (OS) and computing platform designed for smartphones. It was originally developed as a proprietary software OS for personal digital assistants in 1998 by the Symbian Ltd. consortium. Symbian OS ...
in 2001 and later that year created the Symbian Series 60 platform, later introducing it with their first
camera phone A camera phone is a mobile phone that is able to capture photographs and often record video using one or more built-in digital cameras. It can also send the resulting image wirelessly and conveniently. The first commercial phone with a color c ...
, the
Nokia 7650 The Nokia 7650 is a consumer-oriented GSM mobile phone developed by Nokia,announced in 19 November 2001 and released in June 2002. Belonging to the fashion and experimental (List of Nokia products#Fashion and Experimental Series .287xxx Series.29 ...
. Both Nokia and Symbian eventually became the largest
smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...
hardware and software maker, respectively, and in February 2004, Nokia became the largest shareholder of Symbian Ltd. Nokia acquired the entire company in June 2008 and then formed the Symbian Foundation as its successor. In 1998 alone, the company had sales revenue of $20 billion, making $2.6 billion profit. By 2000, Nokia employed over 55,000 people and had a market share of 30% in the mobile phone market, almost twice as large as its nearest competitor,
Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...
. The company was operating in 140 countries as of 1999. It was reported at the time that some people believed Nokia to be a
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
ese company. Between 1996 and 2001, Nokia's turnover increased fivefold, from €6.5 billion to €31 billion. Meanwhile, a ''
Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...
'' survey held near end 2000 showed that Nokia was the "most trusted brand in Europe", ranking better than Sony, Canon, and Nivea. The company would then be known as a successful and innovative maker of
camera phone A camera phone is a mobile phone that is able to capture photographs and often record video using one or more built-in digital cameras. It can also send the resulting image wirelessly and conveniently. The first commercial phone with a color c ...
s. The Nokia 3600/3650 was the first camera phone on sale in North America in 2003. In April 2005, Nokia partnered with German camera optics maker
Carl Zeiss AG Zeiss ( ; ) is a German manufacturer of optical systems and optoelectronics, founded in Jena, Germany, in 1846 by optician Carl Zeiss. Together with Ernst Abbe (joined 1866) and Otto Schott (joined 1884) he laid the foundation for today's ...
. That same month, Nokia introduced the Nseries, which would become its flagship line of smartphones for the next six years. The
Nokia N95 The Nokia N95 is a smartphone produced by Nokia as part of their former Nokia Nseries, Nseries line of multimedia mobile phones. Announced in September 2006, it was released to the market in March 2007. The N95 runs S60 platform, S60 3rd Editio ...
was introduced in September 2006, became highly successful, and was also awarded "best mobile imaging device" in Europe in 2007. Its successor the N82 featured a
xenon Xenon is a chemical element; it has symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It is a dense, colorless, odorless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, it can undergo a few chemical reactions such as the ...
flash, which helped it win the award of "best mobile imaging" device in Europe in 2008. The N93 in 2006 was known for its specialized
camcorder A camcorder is a self-contained portable electronic device with video and recording as its primary function. It is typically equipped with an articulating screen mounted on the left side, a belt to facilitate holding on the right side, hot-sw ...
and the twistable design that switches between clamshell and a camcorder-like position. They were also well known for the N8 with a high-resolution 12-megapixel sensor, in 2010; the 808 PureView with a 41-megapixel sensor, in 2012; and the Lumia 920 flagship, which implemented advanced PureView technologies, in 2012. Nokia was one of the pioneers of
mobile gaming A mobile game is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA to handheld game conso ...
due to the popularity of ''
Snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...
'', which came preloaded on many products. In 2002, Nokia attempted to break into the handheld gaming market with the N-Gage. Nokia's head of entertainment and media, Ilkka Raiskinen, once said, "
Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...
is for 10-year-olds", stating that N-Gage is more suited to a mature audience. However, the device was a failure, unable to challenge the dominant market leader,
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
. Nokia attempted to revive N-Gage as a platform for their S60 smartphones, which eventually launched in 2008. In Q1 2004, Nokia's mobile phone handset market share steeply dropped to 28.9%, down from 34.6% a year earlier. However, by 2006, the company was steadily gaining again and in Q4 2007 reached its all-time high figure of 40.4%. Its smartphone market share in that quarter was 51%. Nokia was the largest vendor at the time in all regions bar
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
. Nokia launched mobile TV trials in 2005 in Finland with content provided by public broadcaster Yle. The services are based on the DVB-H standard. It could be viewed with the widescreen Nokia 7710 smartphone with a special accessory enabling it to receive DVB-H signals. Nokia partnered with Arqiva and O2 to launch trials in the UK in September 2005. In 2005, Nokia developed a
Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...
-based operating system called
Maemo Maemo is a Linux-based software platform originally developed by Nokia, now developed by the Free software movement, community, for smartphones and Internet tablets. The platform comprises both the Maemo operating system and Software development ...
, which shipped that year on the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. On 1 June 2006, Jorma Ollila became the company's chairman and retired as CEO, replaced by Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo. In August 2007, Nokia introduced Ovi, an umbrella name for the company's new Internet services, which included the N-Gage platform and the Nokia Music Store. The Ovi Store faced stiff competition from
Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
's
App Store An app store, also called an app marketplace or app catalog, is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not i ...
when it was introduced in 2008. In October 2008, Nokia announced the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, the first device to ship with the new touch-centric S60 5th Edition, also known as Symbian^1, the first iteration of the platform since the creation of the Symbian Foundation. In November 2008, Nokia announced it would end mobile phone sales in
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
because of low market share. Nokia's global mobile phone market share peaked in 2008 at 38.6 percent. The same year, Nokia announced the acquisition of Trolltech and its Qt software development. Qt was a central part of Nokia's strategy until 2011, and it was eventually sold in 2012. Nokia briefly returned to the computer market with the Booklet 3G netbook in August 2009.


2010–2014

In late 2009 and in 2010, the music-focused Xseries and consumer-focused Cseries were introduced respectively. In April 2010 Nokia introduced its next flagship mobile device, the Nokia N8, which would be the first to run on Symbian^3. However it was delayed for many months which tarnished the company's image, especially after the failure of its previous flagship N97 and tougher competition from
Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
and the rising
Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
. On 10 September 2010, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo was fired as CEO and it was announced that Stephen Elop from
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
would take Nokia's CEO position, becoming the first non-Finnish director in Nokia's history. It was claimed that investors pressed Nokia's board to recruit an outsider to shake up management and break from the traditional "Nokia way". Ollila had also announced that he would step down as Nokia chairman by 2012. On 11 March 2011 Nokia announced that it had paid Elop a $6 million signing bonus as "compensation for lost income from his prior employer", on top of his $1.4 million annual salary. The old Symbian OS became completely
open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...
in February 2010. However, in November 2010 it was announced that the Symbian Foundation was closing and that Nokia would take back control of the Symbian operating system under closed licensing. By now Nokia was the only remaining company using the platform, along with carrier NTT Docomo in Japan, after both
Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...
and
Sony Ericsson Sony Mobile Communications Inc., originally Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, was a Multinational corporation, multinational consumer electronics and telecommunications company, best known for its Mobile phones, mobile phone products. The ...
moved to Android. Meanwhile, in 2010 for Nokia's
Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...
ambitions, Nokia collaborated with
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
to form the
MeeGo MeeGo is a discontinued Linux distribution hosted by the Linux Foundation, using source code from the operating systems Moblin (produced by Intel) and Maemo (produced by Nokia). MeeGo was primarily targeted at mobile devices and information app ...
project, after the merger of Nokia's own
Maemo Maemo is a Linux-based software platform originally developed by Nokia, now developed by the Free software movement, community, for smartphones and Internet tablets. The platform comprises both the Maemo operating system and Software development ...
and Intel's Moblin. Nokia's Symbian platform that had been the leading smartphone platform in Europe and Asia for many years was quickly becoming outdated and difficult for developers after the advent of
iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
and Android. To counter this, Nokia planned to make their MeeGo Linux operating system, under development, the company's flagship on smartphones. Shortly after Elop's CEO tenure began, the Nokia board green-lit him the ability to change the company's mobile phones strategy, including changing operating systems. Veteran Anssi Vanjoki, head of the smartphones division, left the company around this time. His final appearance was at Nokia World 2010 when the Nokia E7-00 and other Symbian^3 devices were introduced. On 11 February 2011, Nokia announced a "strategic partnership" with
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
, under which it would adopt Windows Phone 7 as its primary operating system on smartphones, and integrate its services and platforms with its own, including
Bing Bing most often refers to: * Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer * Microsoft Bing, a web search engine Bing may also refer to: Food and drink * Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread * Bing (soft drink), a UK brand * Bing cherry, a varie ...
as search engine, and integration of Nokia Maps data into Bing Maps. Elop stated that Nokia chose not to use Android because of an apparent inability to "differentiate" its offerings, with critics also noting that his past ties to Microsoft may have also influenced the decision. Although the MeeGo "Harmattan"-based N9 was met with a highly positive reception in 2011, Nokia had already decided to end development on MeeGo and solely focus on its Microsoft partnership, although the CEO said that the N9's "innovations" will live on in the future, which eventually made their way on the Asha platform in 2013. After the announcement of the Microsoft partnership, Nokia's market share deteriorated; this was due to demand for Symbian dropping when consumers realized Nokia's focus and attention would be elsewhere. The company posted a large loss for the second quarter of 2011 – only their second quarterly loss in 19 years. Nokia's first Windows Phone flagship was the Lumia 800, which arrived in November 2011. Falling sales in 2011, which were not being improved significantly with the Lumia line in 2012, led to consecutive quarters of huge losses. By mid-2012 the company's stock price fell below $2. CEO Elop announced cost-cutting measures in June by shedding 10,000 employees by the end of the year and the closure of the Salo manufacturing plant. The Finnish prime minister also announced that the government wouldn't subsidize the company from an emergency state fund. Around this time Nokia started a new project codenamed " Meltemi", a platform for low-end smartphones. With the Microsoft alliance and under Elop's management, Nokia also had a renewed focus on the North American market where Nokia phones were, in stark contrast to the rest of the world, almost irrelevant for many years. This strategy began in January 2012 with the introduction of the Nokia Lumia 900 smartphone in partnership with U.S. carrier
AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
. In March 2011, Nokia introduced a new corporate typeface called "Pure". On 1 August 2011, Nokia announced that it would adopt a new three-digit naming system for mobile phone products and stop using letters, effectively ending the Nseries, Eseries, and short-lived Cseries. That same day the Nokia 500 was introduced with the new system. Nokia last used three-digit names on analogue phones in the 1990s. When the Lumia 920 was announced in September 2012, it was seen by the press as the first high-end Windows Phone that could challenge rivals due to its advanced feature set. Elop said that the positive reaction to it had created a sense of hope and optimism in the company. The company was also making gains in developing countries with its
Asha ''Asha'' () or ''arta'' (; ) is a Zoroastrian concept with a complex and highly nuanced range of meaning. It is commonly summarized in accord with its contextual implications of 'truth' and 'right' (or 'righteousness'), 'order' and 'right wor ...
series, which were selling strongly. Although Nokia's smartphone sales and market share greatly increased throughout 2013, including in the North American market, it was still not enough to avoid financial losses. Ollila stepped down as chairman on 4 May 2012 and was replaced by Risto Siilasmaa. In September 2013, Nokia announced the sale of its mobile and devices division to Microsoft. The sale was positive for Nokia to avoid further negative financial figures, as well as for Microsoft's CEO
Steve Ballmer Steven Anthony Ballmer (; March 24, 1956) is an American businessman and investor who served as chief executive officer of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014. He is the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He i ...
, who wanted Microsoft to produce more hardware and turn it into a devices and services company. The Nokia chairperson, Risto Siilasmaa, described the deal as rationally correct (in the best interests of Nokia shareholders), but emotionally difficult – experts agree that Nokia would have been in a cash crisis had it not sold the division to Microsoft. Analysts believe that Ballmer pushed for the buyout because of fears that Nokia was close to adopting Android and abandoning their alliance with Microsoft. Indeed, in January 2014 the Nokia X was introduced which ran on a customised version of Android. It was a surprising and somewhat odd launch coming just weeks away from the finalization of the Microsoft buyout. Others, including Ballmer's successor
Satya Nadella Satya Narayana Nadella (; born 19 August 1967) is an Indian-born American business executive who is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Microsoft, succeeding Steve Ballmer in 2014 as CEO and John W. Thompson in 2021 as chairman. B ...
, felt that Microsoft thought merging their software teams with Nokia's hardware engineering and designs would "accelerate" growth of Windows Phone. The sale was completed in April 2014, with Microsoft Mobile becoming the successor to Nokia's mobile devices division. Nokia also moved from its
headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...
to another building complex located at Karaportti. At the time, Ballmer himself was retiring as Microsoft CEO and was replaced by
Satya Nadella Satya Narayana Nadella (; born 19 August 1967) is an Indian-born American business executive who is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Microsoft, succeeding Steve Ballmer in 2014 as CEO and John W. Thompson in 2021 as chairman. B ...
, who opposed the Nokia mobile phones purchase, along with chairman
Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend ...
. The purchased assets from Nokia were eventually written-off by Microsoft in 2015. By 2014, Nokia's global brand value according to Interbrand fell to 98th place, a sharp slide from the 5th place it was in 2009. Nokia's downfall in the mobile phone market has had different explanations from analysts, with many split about the CEO's decision to abandon its in-house operating system and adopting Windows Phone in 2011. Many researchers have concluded that Nokia suffered from deep internal rivalries within the management. Former employees claimed that the management became so swollen by the early success that they grew complacent over time. Some from the Symbian developing team have claimed that the company's upper management rejected hundreds of potential innovations during the 2000s that they proposed, including entirely rewriting Symbian's code. One former Nokia employee claimed that the company was run as a "
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
-style
bureaucracy Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments ...
". In July 2013, Nokia bought
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...
' stake in the Nokia Siemens Networks joint venture for $2.2 billion, turning it into a wholly owned subsidiary called Nokia Solutions and Networks, until being rebranded as Nokia Networks soon after. During Nokia's financial struggles, its profitable networking division with Siemens provided much of its income; thus, the purchase proved to be positive, particularly after the sale of its mobile devices unit.


2014–2016

After the sale of its mobile devices division, Nokia focused on network equipment through Nokia Networks. In October 2014, Nokia and
China Mobile China Mobile is the trade name of both China Mobile Limited and its ultimate controlling shareholder, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd., a Chinese State-owned enterprises of China, state-owned telecommunicationsStrait deals ''The Econ ...
signed a US$970 million framework deal for delivery between 2014 and 2015. On 17 November 2014, Nokia Technologies head Ramzi Haidamus disclosed that the company planned to re-enter the consumer electronics business as an original design manufacturer, licensing in-house hardware designs and technologies to third-party manufacturers. Haidamus stated that the Nokia brand was "valuable" but "is diminishing in value, and that's why it is important that we reverse that trend very quickly, imminently". The next day, Nokia unveiled the N1, an Android tablet manufactured by
Foxconn Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (), Trade name, doing business as Hon Hai Technology Group () in Taiwan, Foxconn Technology Group () in China, and Foxconn () internationally, is a Taiwanese multinational corporation, multinational electron ...
, as its first product following the Microsoft sale. Haidamus emphasized that devices released under these licensing agreements would be held to high standards in production quality, and would "look and feel just like Nokia built it". Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri stated that the company planned to re-enter the mobile phone business in this manner in 2016, following the expiration of its non-compete clause with Microsoft. According to Robert Morlino, the spokesman of Nokia Technologies, Nokia planned to follow the brand-licensing model rather than direct marketing of mobile devices due to the sale of its mobile devices division to Microsoft. The company took aggressive steps to revitalize itself, evident through its hiring of software experts, testing of new products and seeking of sales partners. On 14 July 2015, CEO Rajeev Suri confirmed that the company would make a return to the mobile phones market in 2016. On 28 July 2015, Nokia announced OZO, a 360-degrees
virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...
camera, with eight 2K optical image sensors. The division behind the product, Nokia Technologies, claimed that OZO would be the most advanced VR film-making platform. Nokia's press release stated that OZO would be "the first in a planned portfolio of digital media solutions," with more technological products expected in the future. OZO was fully unveiled on 30 November in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. The OZO, designed for professional use, was intended for retail for US$60,000; however, its price was decreased by $15,000 prior to release, and is listed on its official website as $40,000. On 14 April 2015, Nokia confirmed that it was in talks with the French telecommunications equipment company
Alcatel-Lucent Alcatel-Lucent S.A. () was a multinational telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France. The company focused on Fixed line telephone, fixed, Mobile phone, mobile and telecommunications convergence, ...
regarding a potential merger. The next day, Nokia announced that it had agreed to purchase Alcatel-Lucent for €15.6 billion in an all-stock deal. CEO Rajeev Suri felt that the purchase would give Nokia a strategic advantage in the development of 5G wireless technologies. The acquisition created a stronger competitor to the rival firms
Ericsson (), commonly known as Ericsson (), is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Ericsson has been a major contributor to the development of the telecommunications industry and is one ...
and
Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei" sometimes stylized as "HUAWEI"; ; zh, c=华为, p= ) is a Chinese multinational corporationtechnology company in Longgang, Shenzhen, Longgang, Shenzhen, Guangdong. Its main product lines include teleco ...
, whom Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent had surpassed in terms of total combined revenue in 2014. Nokia shareholders hold 66.5% of the new combined company, while Alcatel-Lucent shareholders hold 33.5%. The
Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey, the compa ...
division was to be maintained, but the Alcatel-Lucent brand would be replaced by Nokia. In October 2015, following approval of the deal by China's Ministry of Commerce, the merger awaited approval by French regulators. Despite the initial intent of selling the submarine cable division separately, Alcatel-Lucent later declared that it would not. The merger closed on 14 January 2016, but was not complete until 3 November 2016. From the acquisition, Nokia is now also the owner of the Alcatel Mobile phone brand, which continues to be licensed to TCL. On 3 August 2015, Nokia announced that it had reached a deal to sell its Here digital maps division to a consortium of
BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...
,
Daimler AG Mercedes-Benz Group AG (formerly Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler, and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive company headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacturers. Daimler-B ...
and
Volkswagen Group Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of passenger and commercial vehicles, motorcycles, engines and turbomachinery. Headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxon ...
for €2.8 billion. The deal closed on 3 December 2015.


2016–2019

On 26 April 2016, Nokia announced its intent to acquire French connected health device maker Withings for US$191 million. The company was integrated into a new Digital Health unit of Nokia Technologies. Nokia later wrote off the cost of the acquisition and in May 2018 the health unit was sold back to Éric Carreel, a Withings co-founder and former CEO. On 18 May 2016, Microsoft Mobile sold its Nokia-branded feature phone business to HMD Global, a new company founded by former Nokia executive Jean-Francois Baril, and an associated factory in Vietnam to
Foxconn Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (), Trade name, doing business as Hon Hai Technology Group () in Taiwan, Foxconn Technology Group () in China, and Foxconn () internationally, is a Taiwanese multinational corporation, multinational electron ...
's
FIH Mobile Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (), Trade name, doing business as Hon Hai Technology Group () in Taiwan, Foxconn Technology Group () in China, and Foxconn () internationally, is a Taiwanese multinational corporation, multinational electron ...
subsidiary. Nokia subsequently entered into a long-term licensing deal to make HMD the exclusive manufacturer of Nokia-branded phones and tablets outside Japan, operating in conjunction with Foxconn. The deal also granted HMD the right to essential patents and featurephone software. HMD subsequently announced the Android-based Nokia 6 smartphone in January 2017. At
Mobile World Congress MWC Barcelona (formerly but still commonly referred to as Mobile World Congress) is an annual trade show dedicated to the mobile communications industry. The event is held in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain, at the Fira de Barcelona Gran ...
, HMD additionally unveiled the Nokia 3 and Nokia 5 smartphones, as well as a re-imagining of Nokia's classic 3310 feature phone. Nokia has direct investments in the company, and they do have some input in the new devices. On 28 June 2016, Nokia demonstrated for the first time a 5G-ready network. In February 2017 Nokia carried out a 5G connection in
Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...
, Finland using the 5GTF standard, backed by
Verizon Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...
, on
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
architecture-based equipment. In July 2017, Nokia and
Xiaomi Xiaomi (; ) is a Chinese multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Beijing, China. It is best known for consumer electronics software electric vehicles. It is the second-largest manufacturer of smartphones in the worl ...
announced that they have signed a business collaboration agreement and a multi-year patent agreement, including a cross-license to each company's cellular standard-essential patents. In that year, Nokia's brand value was ranked 188th by Brand Finance, a jump of 147 places from 2016. Its rise was attributed to its health portfolio and new mobile phones developed by HMD Global. In January 2018, Nokia signed a deal with NTT Docomo, Japan's largest mobile operator, to provide 5G wireless radio base stations in the country by 2020. Later that month, Nokia announced the ReefShark line of 5G
chipset In a computer system, a chipset is a set of electronic components on one or more integrated circuits that manages the data flow between the processor, memory and peripherals. The chipset is usually found on the motherboard of computers. Chips ...
s, claiming that it triples bandwidth to 84 Gbit/s. In March, Solidium, the investment arm of the
Finnish Government The Finnish Government (; ; ) is the executive branch and cabinet of Finland, which directs the politics of Finland and is the main source of legislation proposed to the Parliament. The Government has collective ministerial responsibility an ...
, purchased a 3.3% stake in Nokia valued at €844 million. In May, Nokia announced that it had acquired a
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
-based IoT startup, SpaceTime Insight. In January 2019, the Canadian government announced that it would provide $40 million to support Nokia's research on 5G technology. A 2019 study revealed that Nokia phones performed far better than rivals
Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...
, LG,
Xiaomi Xiaomi (; ) is a Chinese multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Beijing, China. It is best known for consumer electronics software electric vehicles. It is the second-largest manufacturer of smartphones in the worl ...
, and
Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei" sometimes stylized as "HUAWEI"; ; zh, c=华为, p= ) is a Chinese multinational corporationtechnology company in Longgang, Shenzhen, Longgang, Shenzhen, Guangdong. Its main product lines include teleco ...
in updating to the latest version of Android. The study, made by Counterpoint Research, found that 96 percent of Nokia phones were either sent with or updated to the latest Android version since Pie was released in 2018. Nokia's competitors were found to be all around roughly the 80 percent range.


2020–present

On 2 March 2020, Nokia announced Pekka Lundmark as its new CEO. Later that month, Nokia completed the acquisition of Elenion Technologies, a U.S.-based company focusing on silicon photonics technology to improve economics of advanced optical connectivity products. On 27 May 2020, Sari Baldauf succeeded Risto Siilasmaa as chairwoman of the board of directors, and Kari Stadigh was appointed vice chair. In June, Nokia won a 5G contract worth approximately $450 million from
Taiwan Mobile Taiwan Mobile () is a mobile phone operator based in Taiwan. It is the second largest telecom company behind Chunghwa Telecom. History Taiwan Mobile started as part of a strategic divestment from the now defunct Pacific Electric Wire & Cabl ...
to build out the telecom operator's next-generation network as the sole supplier. In October, Nokia announced a contract with
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
to build a 4G mobile network for astronaut usage on the moon. The $14.1 million contract, through subsidiary Bell Labs, was expected to begin in 2022. In 2020,
Flipkart Flipkart Inc. is an Indian e-commerce company, headquartered in Bangalore, and incorporated in Singapore as a private limited company. The company initially focused on online book sales before expanding into other product categories such as con ...
collaborated with Nokia to market Nokia-branded consumer products in India. These included televisions, a laptop and a range of air conditioners. In April 2022, Nokia announced that it would exit the Russian market following the country's invasion of Ukraine. The company stated that the decision would not affect its financial outlook as Russia accounted for less than 2% of Nokia's net sales in 2021. In February 2023, Nokia introduced a new logo for the first time in nearly 60 years to change its brand identity as people still associated the previous logo with mobile phones. The new logo was designed by Lippincott. In December 2023, Nokia acquired Fenix Group to strengthen its wireless offering in the defense segment for an undisclosed amount. In the same month, Nokia announced a €185million deal with Lumine Group to carve out its device management business (inherited from Alcatel-Lucent's purchase of Motive, Inc.) and its service management business (formerly Mformation). The deal completed in April 2024 and involved the transfer of around 500 Nokia employees. In February 2024, the company announced that it was accelerating its
carbon neutrality Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon dioxide (). Reaching net ze ...
target by 10 years to 2040 after having previously committed to cutting its
carbon footprint A carbon footprint (or greenhouse gas footprint) is a calculated value or index that makes it possible to compare the total amount of greenhouse gases that an activity, product, company or country Greenhouse gas emissions, adds to the atmospher ...
across emissions scopes in half by 2030 from a 2019 baseline. In June 2024, Nokia acquired Infinera for $2.3 billion. On 10 February 2025, Nokia announced that Pekka Lundmark would step down as president and CEO on 31 March and be succeeded by Justin Hotard.


Current operations

Nokia is a julkinen osakeyhtiö (public
joint-stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareho ...
) listed on the Nasdaq Nordic/
Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
and New York stock exchanges. Nokia has played a very large role in the economy of Finland, and it is an important employer in the country, working with multiple local partners and
subcontractor A subcontractor is a person or business which undertakes to perform part or all of the obligations of another's contract, and a subcontract is a contract which assigns part of an existing contract to a subcontractor. A general contractor, prime ...
s. Nokia contributed 1.6% to Finland's GDP and accounted for about 16% of the country's exports in 2006. Nokia comprises two business groups along with further subsidiaries and affiliated firms.


Nokia Networks

Nokia Networks is Nokia Corporation's largest division. It is a multinational data networking and telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Espoo, Finland, and is the world's third-largest telecoms equipment manufacturer, measured by 2017 revenues (after
Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei" sometimes stylized as "HUAWEI"; ; zh, c=华为, p= ) is a Chinese multinational corporationtechnology company in Longgang, Shenzhen, Longgang, Shenzhen, Guangdong. Its main product lines include teleco ...
and
Cisco Cisco Systems, Inc. (using the trademark Cisco) is an American multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, s ...
). In the USA it competes with Ericsson on building 5G networks for operators, while Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corporation were effectively banned. It has operations in around 150 countries. Nokia Networks provides wireless and fixed network infrastructure, communications and networks service platforms and professional services to operators and service providers. It focuses on
GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...
, EDGE, 3G/W-CDMA, LTE and
WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) options. The WiMA ...
radio access networks, supporting core networks with increasing IP and multiaccess capabilities and services. The Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) brand identity was launched at the 3GSM World Congress in
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
in February 2007 as a joint venture between Nokia (50.1%) and
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...
(49.9%), although it is now wholly owned by Nokia. In July 2013, Nokia bought back all shares in Nokia Siemens Networks for a sum of US$2.21 billion and renamed it to Nokia Solutions and Networks, shortly thereafter changed to simply Nokia Networks.


Nokia Technologies

Nokia Technologies is a division of Nokia that develops consumer products and licenses technology including the ''Nokia'' brand. Its focuses are imaging, sensing, wireless connectivity, power management and materials, and other areas such as the IP licensing program. It consists of three labs: Radio Systems Lab, in areas of radio access, wireless local connectivity and radio implementation; Media Technologies Lab, in areas of multimedia and interaction; and Sensor and Material Technologies Lab, in areas of advanced sensing solutions, interaction methods, nanotechnologies and quantum technologies. Nokia Technologies also provides public participation in its development through the ''Invent with Nokia'' program. It was created in 2014 following a restructuring of Nokia Corporation. In November 2014, Nokia Technologies launched its first product, the Nokia N1
tablet computer A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being computers ...
. In July 2015, Nokia Technologies introduced a VR camera called OZO, designed for professional content creators and developed in
Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...
, Finland. With its 8 synchronized shutter sensors and 8 microphones, the product can capture stereoscopic 3D video and spatial audio. Production of the OZO camera was discontinued in 2017, but the immersive audio software technologies continue under the Nokia OZO brand, still keeping Nokia in the virtual reality market. On 31 August 2016, Ramzi Haidamus announced he would be stepping down from his position as president of Nokia Technologies. Brad Rodrigues, previously head of strategy and business development, assumed the role of interim president. On 30 June 2017, Gregory Lee, previously CEO of
Samsung Electronics Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (SEC; stylized as SΛMSUNG; ) is a South Korean multinational major appliance and consumer electronics corporation founded on 13 January 1969 and headquartered in Yeongtong District, Suwon, South Korea. It is curr ...
in North America, was appointed Nokia Technologies CEO and president.


Nokia Bell Labs

Nokia Bell Labs is a research and scientific development company that was once the R&D arm of the American
Bell System The Bell System was a system of telecommunication companies, led by the Bell Telephone Company and later by the AT&T Corporation, American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), that dominated the telephone services industry in North America fo ...
. It became a subsidiary of Nokia Corporation after the takeover of
Alcatel-Lucent Alcatel-Lucent S.A. () was a multinational telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France. The company focused on Fixed line telephone, fixed, Mobile phone, mobile and telecommunications convergence, ...
in 2016. In December 2023, Nokia announced plans for a new research facility in
New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Murray Hill, New Jersey Murray Hill is an unincorporated community located within portions of both Berkeley Heights and New Providence, located in Union County, in the northern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the longtime central location of Bell ...
is expected to occur before 2028. The Murray Hill laboratories produced important innovations for AT&T Corp., Lucent Technologies, Alcatel-Lucent, and Nokia.


NGP Capital

NGP Capital (formerly Nokia Growth Partners) is a global venture capital firm, focusing on investments in the growth stage "
Internet of things Internet of things (IoT) describes devices with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other communication networks. The IoT encompasse ...
" (IoT) and
mobile technology Mobile technology is the technology used for Cellular network, cellular communication. Mobile technology has evolved rapidly over the past few years. Since the start of this millennium, a standard mobile device has gone from being no more than a s ...
companies. NGP holds investments throughout the U.S., Europe, China and India. Their portfolio consists of companies in mobile technology including the sectors Connected Enterprise, Digital Health, Consumer IoT, and Connected Car. Following a $350 million funding for IoT companies in 2016, NGP manages $1 billion worth of assets. Nokia had previously promoted innovation through venture sponsorships dating back to 1998 with Nokia Venture Partners, which was renamed BlueRun Ventures and spun off in 2005. The China arm of BlueRun Ventures became independent in 2010 and would be rebranded to Lanchi Ventures. Nokia Growth Partners (NGP) was founded in 2005 as a growth stage venture fund as a continuation of the early successes of Nokia Venture Partners. In 2017, the company was renamed to NGP Capital. NGP's largest exits include GanJi, UCWeb, Whistle,
Rocket Fuel Rocket propellant is used as reaction mass ejected from a rocket engine to produce thrust. The energy required can either come from the propellants themselves, as with a chemical rocket, or from an external source, as with ion engines. Overvi ...
, Swype, Summit Microelectronics and Netmagic.


Nuage Networks

Nuage Networks is a venture providing software-defined networking solutions. It was formed by Alcatel-Lucent in 2013 to develop a software overlay for automating and orchestrating hybrid clouds. It has been part of Nokia following their acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent in 2016. Throughout 2017 Nuage sealed deals with
Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...
and
Telefónica , S.A. () is a Spanish multinational telecommunications company with registered office and headquarters located in two different places, both in Madrid, Spain. It is one of the largest telephone operators and mobile network providers in the ...
to provide its SD-WAN architecture to their servers. BT had already been a client since 2016. A deal with
China Mobile China Mobile is the trade name of both China Mobile Limited and its ultimate controlling shareholder, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd., a Chinese State-owned enterprises of China, state-owned telecommunicationsStrait deals ''The Econ ...
in January 2017 also used Nuage's software-defined networking technology for 2,000 public cloud servers at existing data centers in China, and another in October 2017 with China Pacific Insurance Company. The company is based in Mountain View, California and the CEO is Sunil Khandekar.


Alcatel Mobile

Alcatel Mobile is a mobile phone brand owned by Nokia since 2016. It has been licensed since 2005 to Chinese company TCL when it was under the ownership of Alcatel (later
Alcatel-Lucent Alcatel-Lucent S.A. () was a multinational telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France. The company focused on Fixed line telephone, fixed, Mobile phone, mobile and telecommunications convergence, ...
) in a contract until 2024.


HMD Global

HMD Global is a mobile phone company based in Espoo, Finland. The Nokia brand has been licensed by former Nokia employees who founded HMD Global and introduced Nokia-branded Android-based devices to the market in 2017. Initially, Nokia had no investment in the company but retained some input in the development of its devices. Nokia has 10.10% ownership in HMD Global after investing alongside Qualcomm and Google in 2020. In the 2020 financial report, FIH Mobile disclosed they have a 14.38% ownership in HMD Global. Finnish Nokia owns 10.10% of HMD Global, while other investors include Google, Qualcomm, and others with an undisclosed share in HMD.


Alcatel Submarine Networks

Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) is a provider of turnkey undersea network solutions. The business unit develops technology and offers installation services for optical submarine cable network links across the world's oceans. Previously, Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks, also became part of Nokia in 2016. Nokia and ASN had added another cable ship to the fleet called, ''CS Ile d'Ouessant''. The ''CS Ile d’Ouessant'' was purchased in 2019 and was originally built in 2011 as the ''CS Toisa Warrior''. Additionally, in 2021, Nokia and ASN requested two cable ships for the fleet, the ''CS Ile d'Yeu'' and ''CS Ile de Molène''. Here is a list of the cable-laying fleet from Alcatel (6), to Alcatel-Lucent (6 and 7), though Nokia (8): * CS ''Ile d'Yeu'' (2001, 2021–Present) Built in 2001. Purchased in 2021 by Nokia ASN as two additional ships for a fleet of eight cable ships. (IMO 9230414) * CS ''Ile d'Molène'' (2006, 2021–Present) Built in 2006. Purchased in 2021 by Nokia ASN two additional ships for a fleet of eight cable ships. (IMO 9329928) * CS ''Ile d’Ouessant'' (2011, 2019–Present) Built in 2011 as the ''CS Toisa Warrior''. Purchased by Nokia ASN in 2019. (IMO 9427108) * CS ''Ile d'Aix'' (1992, 2011–Present) Built in 1992, as the cable ship, ''CS Gulmar Badaro''. Purchased by Alcatel-Lucent in 2011, renaming the ship as CS Ile de AIX. * CS ''Ile d' Brehat'' (2002–Present) Built in 2002. North route main lay of 4400 km for 2003 APOLLO route. Route clearance in 2015 for GTT Express. * CS ''Ile d' Sein'' (2001–Present) Built in 2001, Length: 140.36 m, Cable work in 2003 of routes Azores to Madeira and Madeira to Porto Santo. * CS ''Ile d' Batz'' (2001–Present) Built in 2001, 2003 APOLLO: Widemouth Bay, Bude, England to Brookhaven, USA and Lannion, France to Manasquan, USA, 2008 worked on TPE (Trans Pacific Express) * CS ''Ile d' Re'' (1983–Present) Built in 1983, in 2006 worked on the APNG 2 cable route from Sydney, Australia to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. (OMS Group in August 2023 used MakaiLay software on ship, indication not part of ASN fleet.) * CS ''Stanelco 2'' (1975, 2000-Unknown) Built in 1975, Constructed by Brattvag Skips. in Brattvag. Named coaster ''Siraholm.'' Renamed in 1982 by Standard Telefon og Kabelfabrik when converted to cable repair ship. Sold to Alcatel Contracting Norway A/S, Oslo in 2000. (IMO 7382469, MMSI 341082000) (NOT IN NOKIA FLEET COUNT AS OF 2021) (OMS Group in August 2023 used MakaiLay software on ship, indication not part of ASN fleet.) * CS ''Peter Faber 3'' (1981) Built in 1981, 2003, provided old cable recovery in the Atlantic with ile de Sein. Optic Marine Services acquisition on 24 September 2019 of vessel continued ASN chartering the ship. (NOT IN NOKIA FLEET COUNT AS OF 2021) (Optic Marine Services Group in August 2023 used MakaiLay software on ship, indication not part of ASN fleet.) * CS ''Lodbrog'' (1985, 2000-Unknown) Built in 1985 as ''Spiegelberg'' and ''Tuzla''. Later renamed in 1996 as ''Bolero''. (IMO 8027808, MMSI: 354400000) Registered to Alcatel in 2000. (NOT IN NOKIA FLEET COUNT AS OF 2021) (OMS Group in August 2023 used MakaiLay software on ship, indication not part of ASN fleet.) * CS ''Heimdal'' (1983, 2000–2004) Built in 1983, 1988: Renamed FERRYMAR I. and reverted to MERCANDIAN ADMIRAL II. 2000: Converted to a repair and cable laying vessel and sold to Alcatel Submarine Networks Marine AS. 2003 performed repair of optical fiber in the Pacific Ocean, route between Japan and the United States, at almost 9,400 km deep. 2004: Sold to SEACOR Smit Offshore (Worldwide) Ltd, (SEACOR Marine (Asia) Pte Ltd (IMO 8207393, MMSI: 538002126) (SOLD IN 2004, NOT IN ALCATEL-LUCENT FLEET AS OF 2015)


Corporate affairs


Business trends

The key trends for Nokia are (as of the financial year ending 31 December):


Corporate governance

The control and management of Nokia is divided among the shareholders at a general meeting and the Nokia Group Leadership Team (left), under the direction of the board of directors (right). The chairman and the rest of the Nokia Leadership Team members are appointed by the board of directors. Only the chairman of the Nokia Leadership Team can belong to both the board of directors and the Nokia Group Leadership Team. The Board of Directors' committees consist of the Audit Committee, the Personnel Committee, and the Corporate Governance and Nomination Committee. The operations of the company are managed within the framework set by the Finnish Companies Act, Nokia's Articles of Association, and Corporate Governance Guidelines, supplemented by the board of directors' adopted charters. On 25 November 2019, Nokia announced that it would discontinue the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO) and distribute its functions to other company leaders. As a result, Chief Operating Officer Joerg Erlemeier decided to step down, effective 1 January 2020.


Former corporate officers


Stock

Nokia is a public limited liability company and is the oldest company listed under the same name on the Helsinki Stock Exchange, beginning in 1915. Nokia has had a secondary listing on the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
since 1994. Nokia shares were delisted from the
London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...
in 2003, the
Paris Stock Exchange Euronext Paris, formerly known as the Paris Bourse (), is a regulated securities trading venue in France. It is Europe's second largest stock exchange by market capitalization, behind the London Stock Exchange, as of December 2023. As of 2022, th ...
in 2004, the
Stockholm Stock Exchange Nasdaq Stockholm, formerly known as the Stockholm Stock Exchange (), is a stock exchange located in Frihamnen, Stockholm, Sweden. Founded in 1863, it has become the primary securities exchange of the Nordic countries. As of March 2021, a total ...
in 2007 and the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (, former German name: , ''FWB'') is the world's 3rd oldest and 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ( German time). Organisation Located in Frankfurt, ...
in 2012. Due to the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent in 2015, Nokia listed its shares again on the Paris Stock Exchange and was included in the
CAC 40 The CAC 40 () () is a Benchmark (computing), benchmark French stock market index. The index represents a capitalization-weighted measure of the 40 most significant stocks among the 100 largest market capitalization, market caps on the Euronext Pa ...
index on 6 January 2016 but later removed on 18 September 2017. In 2007, Nokia had a market capitalization of €110 billion; by 17 July 2012 this had fallen to €6.28 billion, before increasing to €26.0 billion by 23 February 2015. Nokia's market cap at 2020 was 21.76 billion.


Corporate culture

Nokia's official corporate culture manifesto since the 1990s is called ''The Nokia Way''. It emphasizes the speed and flexibility of decision-making in a flat, networked organization. The official business language of Nokia is English. All documentation is written in English, and is used in official intra-company communication. In 1992, Nokia adopted values that were defined with the key words ''respect'', ''achievement'', ''renewal'' and ''challenge''. In May 2007, the company redefined its values after initiating a series of discussion across its worldwide branches regarding what the new values of the company should be. Based on the employee suggestions, the new values were defined as: ''Engaging You'', ''Achieving Together'', ''Passion for Innovation'' and ''Very Human''. In August 2014, Nokia redefined its values again after the sale of its Devices business, using the original 1992 values again.


Headquarters

Nokia are based at Karaportti in
Espoo Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...
, Finland, just outside capital
Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
. It has been their head office since 2014 after moving from the purpose-built Nokia House in Espoo as part of the sale of the mobile phone business to Microsoft. The building in Karaportti was previously the headquarters of NSN (now Nokia Networks).


Awards and recognition

In 2018, Nokia received the Leading Lights award for most innovative cable/video product and was named to Ethisphere's 2018 world's most ethical companies list.


Logo history

Nokian logo (1865).svg, alt=Nokia Osakeyhtiö logo, 1865., ''Nokia Osakeyhtiö'' logo, 1865 Nokia logo 1965.svg, alt=Nokia Osakeyhtiö logo, 1965., ''Nokia Osakeyhtiö'' logo, 1871 Suomen Kumitehtaan logo (1965).svg, alt=Finnish Rubber Works (Suomen Kumitehdas) logo, 1965–1986., Finnish Rubber Works ('' Suomen Kumitehdas'') logo, 1965–1986 Nokia nuolilogo.svg, Nokia 'Arrows' logo, after merging with the Cable Factory ('' Kaapelitehdas'') and Finnish Rubber Works (1966–1992). Used in advertising and products until c. 1997. Nokia Connecting People.svg, Nokia introduced its ''"Connecting People"''
advertising slogan Advertising slogans are short phrases used in advertising campaigns to generate publicity and unify a company's marketing strategy. The phrases may be used to attract attention to a distinctive product feature or reinforce a company's brand. Etymo ...
in 1992, coined by Ove Strandberg. Nokia - 2005 logo.svg, New slogan typeface (Nokia Sans font) introduced in 2005. Nokia Sans had been used by Nokia in products since 2002. Nokia wordmark.svg, The company stopped using a slogan within its logo in 2011. Logo used on Nokia-branded consumer devices including phones made by HMD Global. Nokia 2023.svg, Current logo since 2023 Nokia typefaces.png, alt=History of Nokia's corporate typeface., History of Nokia's corporate typeface


Controversies


NSN's provision of intercept capability to Iran

In 2008, Nokia Siemens Networks, a joint venture between Nokia and
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...
AG, reportedly provided
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
's monopoly telecom company with technology that allowed it to intercept the Internet communications of its citizens. The technology reportedly allowed Iran to use
deep packet inspection Deep packet inspection (DPI) is a type of data processing that inspects in detail the data (Network packet, packets) being sent over a computer network, and may take actions such as alerting, blocking, re-routing, or logging it accordingly. Deep ...
to read and change the content of emails, social media, and online phone calls. The technology "enables authorities to not only block communication but to monitor it to gather information about individuals, as well as alter it for disinformation purposes". During the post-election protests in Iran in June 2009, Iran's Internet access was reported to have slowed to less than a tenth of its normal speeds, which experts suspected was due to using of deep packet inspection. In July 2009, Nokia began to experience a
boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...
of their products and services in
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
. The boycott was led by consumers sympathetic to the post-election protest movement and targeted companies deemed to be collaborating with the regime. Demand for handsets fell and users began shunning SMS messaging. Nokia Siemens Networks asserted in a press release that it provided Iran only with a "lawful intercept capability solely for monitoring of local voice calls" and that it "has not provided any deep packet inspection, web censorship, or Internet filtering capability to Iran".


Nokia–Apple patent dispute

In October 2009, Nokia filed a lawsuit against
Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...
in the U.S. District Court of Delaware claiming that Apple infringed on 10 of its patents related to wireless communication including data transfer. Apple was quick to respond with a countersuit filed in December 2009 accusing Nokia of 11 patent infringements. Apple's general counsel, Bruce Sewell went a step further by stating, "Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours." This resulted in a legal battle between the two telecom majors with Nokia filing another suit, this time with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), alleging Apple had infringed its patents in "virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players and computers". Nokia went on to ask the court to ban all U.S. imports of the Apple products, including the
iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
,
Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...
and
iPod The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...
. Apple countersued by filing a complaint with the ITC in January 2010. In June 2011, Apple settled with Nokia and agreed to an estimated one time payment of $600 million and royalties to Nokia. The two companies also agreed on a cross-licensing patents for some of their patented technologies.


Alleged tax evasion in India

Nokia's Indian subsidiary was charged in January 2013 with non-payment of Indian
Tax Deducted at Source Tax deduction at source (TDS) is an Indian withholding tax that is a means of collecting tax on income, dividends, or asset sales by requiring the payer (or legal intermediary) to deduct tax due before paying the balance to the payee (and the ...
and transgressing
transfer pricing Transfer pricing refers to the rules and methods for pricing transactions within and between enterprises under common ownership or control. Because of the potential for cross-border controlled transactions to distort taxable income, tax authorit ...
norms in India. The unpaid TDS of 30 billion, accrued during a course of six years, was due to royalty paid by the Indian subsidiary to its parent company.


Nokia 7 Plus data breach

In March 2019, news broke that the company's Nokia 7 Plus phones were allegedly sending personal user data to
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
over several months. According to investigators, the gadget sent unencrypted data packages including geographical location, SIM card number, and the phone's serial number to an unidentified Chinese server every time that "the phone was turned on, the screen activated or unlocked." The data was sufficient to follow the movements and actions of the phone in real time. Nokia brand owner HMD Global denied any such transfers had taken place, stating that it was instead the result of an error in the packing process of the phone's software. The Finnish Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman launched an investigation into the matter on the assumption "that personal data has been transferred."


Xinjiang region

In 2020, the
Australian Strategic Policy Institute The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) is a defence and strategic policy think tank based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, founded by the Australian government, and funded by the Australian Department of Defence along with o ...
accused at least 82 major brands, including Nokia, of being connected to forced Uyghur labor in
Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...
.


Notes


References


Further reading

* Lamberg, Juha-Antti, et al. "The curse of agility: The Nokia Corporation and the loss of market dominance in mobile phones, 2003–2013." ''Business History'' 63.4 (2021): 574–605
online
* * * * * * * * *


External links

* {{Authority control, state=expanded 1865 establishments in Finland 1910s initial public offerings Companies in the Euro Stoxx 50 Companies listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Computer hardware companies Display technology companies Electronics companies of Finland Finnish brands Manufacturing companies based in Espoo Manufacturing companies established in 1865 Mobile phone companies of Finland Multinational companies headquartered in Finland Networking hardware companies Radio manufacturers Technology companies established in 1865 Technology companies of Finland Telecommunications companies of Finland Telecommunications equipment vendors Companies in the OMX Helsinki 25 Companies in the OMX Nordic 40 Video game companies of Finland