Mankind achieved a lot. Now we’ve already entered the 4th Industrial Revolution. We’ve become more civilized, more creative, more social & we feel close. We’re in an era of the sonic blast in telecommunication and technological revolution. Considering the mobile phone, Nokia has a great contribution here.
My first ever phone was a Nokia. I’ve visited Nokia’s distribution points before writing this article. And what I found is really interesting and can change the timeline of telecommunication technology. So, be patient.
Early history of Nokia
When you hear the word “Nokia”, you may think of a mobile phone. As I said before, my first ever phone was Nokia, and this may be the same with many of you guys. But, Nokia was more than that.
In 1868, Finnish Mining Engineer Fredrik Idestam, set-up his second wooden pulp mill in southern Finland, beside the river Nokianvirta (for more hydropower resources). This river inspired him to name his company “Nokia”. His first mill was in Tampere, Finland (then in the Russian Empire), founded in 1865. In the beginning, Nokia was just a pulp mill. In 1871, Idestam formed another shared pulp mill with his friend Leo Mechelin. Idestam made Leo company’s chairman after he retired in 1896. Leo Mechelin started a new journey with Nokia. In 1902, Leo expended into Electricity Generation which Idestam had opposed.
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Nokia’s Logo since 1871
In 1904, Eduard Polón founded a new company called “Finnish Rubber Works”. They established a factory near the town Nokia and started using its name. So, there was two company with the same name. As a result, in 1922, they entered into a partnership with a cable company called “Kaapelitehdas”. Eduard Polón became the joint leader and Finnish Rubber Works was growing rapidly after shifting in Nokia region, of course with Nokia & Kaapelitehdas. Nokia became so popular for its rubber products back then in 1960. In the 1960s, Nokia was a conglomerate selling everything from toilet paper to car tires. At that time, Nokia also made Respirator for both civilian and military use.
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This is actually the story of Nokia in 100 years. 100 years had been past and we couldn’t find the Nokia which one we love. In 1967, Nokia restructured. Three companies Nokia, Finnish Rubber Works & Kaapelitehdas merged into one and created a new Nokia. They divided into four major businesses:
Forestry
Rubber
Cable &
Electronics.
Nokia was growing rapidly. The 1970s was really a great time for Nokia when they entered into Networking & Radio industry. That’s when the game changed. They focused more on Electronics products. They also started making military equipment for the Finnish Defence Forces. 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, capacitors, and chemicals.
Nokia expanded into Soviet Union Market after Finland’s trade agreement with them in the 1960s. Soviet Market became the major market for Nokia during the 1970s and Nokia acquired a high profit. Nokia also cooperated with the scientific technology with the Soviet Union. Nokia imported many US made components and used them for the Soviet Union. US deputy minister of defense Richard Perle said that Nokia had a secret cooperation with The Pentagon.
In 1977, Kari Kairamo became the new CEO of Nokia and It was growing tremendously. Nokia acquired many other companies during this time. Such as Salora (Television maker company) in 1984, Luxor AB (Computer maker company) in 1985, Oceanic (Television maker company) in 1987. Schaub-Lorenz in 1987, Ericsson’s computer division in April 1988 and also Mobira. Nokia became the third-largest television manufacturer of Europe behind Philips & Thomson. In 1996, Nokia ended up their Television businesses.
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That was a brief history of early Nokia, before entering the Mobile phone & Telecommunications market. Nokia was a highly successful company though. Let’s take a look at how Nokia became the most cell-phone selling company then.
Nokia in Mobile & Telecommunication Market
In the 1980s, Mobira was a great company for radio transmission technology & telecommunications. Since Nokia acquired Mobira, Nokia became the one. The first ever mobile phone of Nokia was Mobira Senator, which launched in 1982. Before this, in 1981, Mobira launched the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) service, which is the world first international cellular network. So, how it started?
Actually, the reason was the cold war. In the mid to late 1960s, the conflict wasn’t so ice-cold. A nuclear war was actually a possibility. The Soviet Union & USA both were testing their bombs. This tensions made the whole world nervous. Even Finland felt the same tension. As a preparation, the Finnish Government wanted military research into radiotelephone communications. Nokia got the contract. Later, this research turned into a Carphone. And Subsequently, we got the Mobira Senator. At this time, the company had no interest in manufacturing the mobile phone.
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Mobira Senator was the beginning. After all these Nokia’s revenue base became US$2.7 billion. And on 11 December 1988, CEO Kairamo committed suicide tragically. Before this, after 44 years, He discontinued productions of cables, effectively shutting down the sub-company. The new CEO Simo Vuorilehto, planned a major restructuring with 11 groups within the company. The Finnish Rubber Works split away from Nokia in 1988. 2 years later, in 1990, Finnish Rubber Works followed suit. In 1991 Nokia sold their Computer manufacturing division and Nokia Data to a UK-based international company called International Computers Limited. As a result, Nokia’s stock price sank.
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If you’re interested in Nokia’s stock price back then, you can take a look at this PDF.
In 1992, Vuorilehto quit and the new CEO Jorma Ollila, who had the mobile division’s head since 1990, decided to turn Nokia into a ‘Telecom-oriented’ company. And, the 1990s was the Golden Age for Nokia. Nokia’s operating profit:
Negative in 1991
$1 billion in 1995
$4 billion in 1999
That’s how Nokia entered into Mobile & Telecommunications Market and got rid of it.
Evolution of Nokia Mobile Phone
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. It was Nokia Cityman with a weight of 800 grams.
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1984 – Nokia Mobira Talkman (Weight 5500 g)
1987 – Nokia Mobira Cityman (Service: NMT900, Dimensions: 183mm x 43mm x 79mm, Weight: 760g, Power: 2W)
1993 – Nokia 1011 (Networks GSM900, Dimensions (mm) 195 x 60 x 45, Weight (g) 475, Standby (hour) 15, Talk time (min) 90, Display mono, SMS, Phone lock)
1994 – Nokia 232 (WEIGHT: 184 g with 300 mAh Battery (BTH-8L), DIMENSIONS: 147.3 mm x 53.3 mm x 23.1 mm, TRANSMITTING POWER: 0.6 watts ERP | 3.0 watts ERP with booster, NETWORK: AMPS)
1996 – Nokia 8110 (Specification available inside)
1996 – Nokia 9000 Communicator (Specification available inside)
1997 – Nokia 3110 (Specification available inside)
1998 – Nokia 5110 (Specification available inside)
1999 – Nokia 3210 (Specification available inside)
2000 – Nokia 9210 (Specification available inside)
2001 – Nokia 5510 (Specification available inside)
2002 – Nokia N-Gage
2003 – Nokia 7600 (Specification available inside)
2004 – Nokia 3230 (Specification available inside)
2005 – Nokia 1100 (Specification available inside)
2005 – Nokia 3250 XpressMusic (Specification available inside)
2006 – Nokia E65 (Specification available inside)
2007 – Nokia 7900 Prism (Specification available inside)
2008 – Nokia E63 (Specification available inside)
2009 – Nokia X6 (Specification available inside)
2010 – Nokia 6700 Slide (Specification available inside)
2011 – Nokia E7-00 (Specification available inside)
2012 – Nokia 808 Pureview (Specification available inside)
2013 – Nokia Lumia 1020 (Specification available inside)
2017 – Nokia 8
There is a shortened list of most selling products of Nokia, which actually came up with a change. The development continued and it grows.
On the other hand, On 12 June 1996, Nokia sold their Television business. In September 1996, the Television manufacturing plant of Germany closed. In March 1997, Nokia launched the first ever digital satellite receiver. In 1998 Nokia became the chosen supplier to produce the world’s first digital terrestrial television set-top boxes.
Also in 1998, Nokia overtook Motorola & made history by becoming the most selling mobile phone brand.