Ashford Bus 660- Nokia

Nokia

Nokia is a Finnish company that began in 1865 as a wood pulp mill company in southern Finland. Over the next 150 years, the company continued to evolve from one industry to the next in order to meet changing customer and global demands of products. From paper products in 1865 to rubber products in 1898, the company began to manufacture rubber tires and boots to meet the demands of the auto industry and WWI. Soldiers throughout Western Europe had a need for these warm and durable boots (The story so far, 2013). In 1912, the electronic boom began and Nokia started its cable and electronics business. It wasn’t until the 1960’s until Nokia started making its own electronic devices, a pulse analyzer for nuclear power plants. The company experienced exponential change from the 1960’s to today. In the mid 60’s the company entered the telecommunications industry and began to manufacture radio telephones for the army and its computer brand, Mikro Mikko becomes Finland’s best known computer brand. By 1987, the company became the third largest TV manufacture in Europe (The Story So Far, 2013). The most drastic and innovative changes began in the mid 80’s when the company introduced a portable car phone, Nokia continued to lead the mobile phone industry into the mid 2000’s by always staying ahead of the competition, Nokia phones like the N7010 model was the first phone with internet capability including mobile email. The N7650 was the first mobile phone with a built in camera and the N3650 was the first phone to capture video. The company’s devices led the world in mobile phone technology and it sold two billion devices by 2002 worldwide (Our story, 2013). Nokia experienced its highest stock priced in the mid 90’s with a high of $69.25 per share in October 1995 (CNN money, 2013).. The company experienced the highest worldwide market share from 1994 to 2007 (The 20 bestselling mobile phone devices of all time, 2013). However, by 2008, Apple, Inc’s Iphone became the world’s number selling mobile handset in the world and Nokia was made a small player in the market today. Apple introduced a device that had full web capabilities (vs. Nokia’s watered down mobile web), wifi and the ability to download apps. Apple essentially left the competition, including Nokia, in the dust, so to speak. The current stock price (NOK, NYSE) is $4.14 per share (CNN money, 2013). The stock has been in a free fall for the last five years and has yet to re-cover. If Nokia is to reclaim market share in the mobile handset industry, the company must re-define its business model. To do this, the company needs to implement three key changes, one (1), change in leadership style, two (2), change in marketing leadership and strategies and three (3) new joint ventures with technology companies. This paper will define and discuss these three changes and discuss barriers to success. Finally, the paper will be summarized and