Nokia's Biggest Mistake Causes Its Downfall

After reaching a leading position in the relatively new mobile market and becoming the best-selling mobile phone company in the late 90s, Nokia faced a devastating ending in 2013. For a company as big as Nokia once was, this was a rapid and unexpected failure that hit its top management so hard that the very last speech of the company's CEO ended with the famous phrase that the company didn't do anything wrong, but, somehow, it lost!

In this article, we are taking a close look at the main causes of the Nokia downfall and answering the more important question: Where is Nokia now? Also, who is making the Nokia smartphones you're seeing in the market?

The causes of Nokia downfall

After Nokia lost everything in a relatively short period, the whole market was shocked. Everyone started wondering what went wrong. And despite the official statement of the CEO that they "didn't do anything wrong", there were indeed reasons that caused this downfall.

1- The rise of Apple

In 2007, Steve Jobs presented the mobile market, and the entire world, with a futuristic-looking little device that had nothing on the front but a screen, the iPhone was born!

At this time, Apple had only about 5% of the mobile market share and Nokia was on the top. However, failing to sense the changes in the market's wind, Nokia ultimately ended up drowning under the same thing that once helped it rise to the top: the engineering mindset.

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2- Focusing on hardware in the age of apps

Although Nokia ruled the mobile market through its tough and sturdy Mobile Phones with a world-class hardware quality, focusing on the hardware and ignoring the software aspects of smartphones was one of the reasons why the company failed when the market wanted advanced apps and a better interface.

3- Internal politics

The Nokia company had a faulty structure when it came to its management. This structure allowed armful internal managerial politics to take place and grow within the large team. Middle management employees failed to report issues to the top-level management fearing that they would get fired. As expected, this led to a complete failure in making enlightened decisions to help the company compete or even sustain its existence in such a fierce market.

Nokia's biggest mistake ends the company

Perhaps it becomes more obvious what was Nokia's biggest mistake when you take a second look at the final statement of its CEO. Saying that Nokia didn't do anything wrong might not be an accurate statement, but it is an accurate indicator of how the top-level of the company management views their decision. Believing that they could do no wrong was Nokia's management's biggest mistake and it is what led to a series of bad decisions and choices that ultimately resulted in the demise of this mobile giant that once controlled 60% of its market.

Is Nokia still in business?

Many people ask whether Nokia is still in business when they start seeing ads for the latest Nokia smartphone. This particular situation brings up an important point in today's business world which is the fact that companies can end while their brands still live on.

So, the short answer to the question of whether Nokia is still in business or not, in terms of mobile and smartphone production, is: No! However, the Nokia phones are now developed and produced by HMD Global, the Finnish company that bought Nokia in 2016.

Nokia is a horrible and great example at the same time. It is the company that built a brand name that lived beyond its owner and, also, the management that bought down their own gigantic business from the top of the world to rock bottom in a matter of a few years.