Skip to main content
Loading Explore guides…
Nokia's Rise and Fall · Acedra
Home
Explore
Business
Nokia's Rise and Fall
Sign in to save
Chat
If YouTube asks you to sign in, open the video on YouTube.
Watch on YouTube
Reload player
Transcript
13 segments
Copy
Hide video
0:00
You are watching Cold Houston TV.
0:06
[Music] Nokia, one of the most widely recognized and on average universally liked companies ever to grace the face of this earth. When I say the name Nokia, you may think of a phone, but you may also think of something a bit more abstract and deeper than that. It may remind you of brighter times or fond memories. My very first phone was a Nokia, and this may be the case for many of you guys. Nokia was a company that could do no wrong until, of course, they eventually did. So, what's
0:50
the story behind this company? And how could a company so successful, so influential, and so pioneering slip between the cracks to become a shell of what it once was before eventually evaporating into the shadow of Microsoft. The lessons learned from Nokia could teach us something important. Let's begin. Nokia's history dates back to 1865 when a mining engineer Frederick Idestam set up his first woodpop mill in southern Finland. A few years later, he opened a second mill on the banks of the
1:22
Nokian Virture River. This river inspired him to name his company Nokia. And I think that's kind of interesting because he would have no idea how widely recognized this name would become. Soon Nokia expanded into other industries such as rubber, cables, tires, TVs, boots, and more. So, it's safe to say that the early Nokia was a completely different company to the one that we know and love. With that in mind, let's move on to when Nokia became the Nokia that we actually know today. We'll pick
1:52
up the story in the 1960s. At this time, there was a great deal going on in the world. Social, political, and new ways of thinking were gaining momentum in diverse places. But overshadowing all of this was something particularly ominous. The Cold War. In the mid to late 1960s, the conflict wasn't so ice cold. A nuclear war was actually a possibility. The communist superpower, the USSR, was testing their bombs, and the steadfast capitalist USA was testing their bombs.
2:22
Both of these parties were testing with increasing ferocity. These tensions made the whole world nervous. The tensions were felt even in the rather neutral country of Finland and they were taking action. They were preparing for the worst. The Finnish government wanted military research into radio telephone communications to help their country realize the full potential of reliable military communication. A little company called Nokia got the contract from the expertise developed in
2:50
communication later developed into a civilian radio car telephone network that spanned the whole country by the start of the 1970s. The system was very primitive by today's standards because he actually had to take turns to speak. But the real boom and start for Nokia began in the 1980s when mass production took place. The company began to expand into mass production methods of manufacturing. The economy of scale meant added features, less cost, a smaller size, and a cheaper price. The
3:16
company exported 50% of their product and expanded globally by 1985. The Finnish company finally hit the big time when they hit the USA by teaming up with Tandy. During this time, the concept of a mobile phone was incredible. You didn't have to slot money into a machine to make a call. You didn't have to wait in a pay phone line, and you didn't have to be at home hoping that the cable could stretch just that little bit longer. Anywhere, anytime was the idea. The vastness of the market was
3:43
soon realized when sales exceeded predictions by 3,000%. It just seemed that people love to talk and Nokia may have been on to something here. It's said that the secret to Nokia success in the late 1980s was their ability to tailor to different markets in the mobile industry while keeping the efforts going in various other industries. In 1987, Nokia created the Moara Cityman. It was the first Nokia phone to make major news headlines due to the fact that Mitchel Gerbachov, the
4:11
leader of the Soviet Union at the time, was spotted using the phone during press conferences. The slogan for the city man was straight connection for those of you who need independence. But it wasn't all smooth sailing. And in 1988 to 1989, Nokia found itself in a crisis. You see, at this time, the Soviet Union collapsed and there was a major recession in Europe. So the demand for Nokia's diverse later products seemed to dry up overnight. Because of this, there was a
4:37
change in management and JMA Ola, a former city banker, came to take over a CEO in 1992. As a banker, Jorman knew a thing or two about management. He would make the one decision that would shape the company's future for the next decade and a half. He decided to shut off all the company's extra pursuits and focus directly on mobiles, ushering in Nokia's golden period, the 1990s. This was the decade that Nokia truly left everyone else in the dust. They were the undisputed champions of one of the
5:07
fastest growing industries in history. And with that being said, that's where we're going to leave part one of the series. Thanks so much for watching, guys. And if you're interested in more videos like this or you want to see the rest of the series, don't forget to subscribe and maybe leave a comment saying what your first Nokia phone was. Anyway, this has been Thanks for watching Cold Fusion and I'll see you again soon for the next video. Cheers, guys. Have a good one.
5:28
Cold Fusion, it's new thinking.
Here to help you learn
Sign in to keep a private conversation with your course tutor.
Ask me anything about the material…
Sign in to chat