At the end of 2007, four out of ten phones sold on Earth were Nokias. But Nokia didn't start with phones: it started in 1865 as a pulp mill on a Finnish river, and made rubber boots, tires and cables first. How did it conquer the world, why did it lose it, and what does Nokia do today?
0:00 Gorbachev and the Mobira Cityman
1:05 A pulp mill on the rapids (1865)
2:37 Boots, cables and a strange conglomerate
4:08 Phones you carried like luggage
5:31 The years everything broke
6:57 The big bet: telecom, GSM and the Nokia tune
8:37 Four out of ten phones sold
10:11 The burning platform
13:17 The Nokia you don't see
14:47 In hindsight
15:44 Next: Samsung
???? SOURCES (full list with links in the pinned comment)
Ericsson, "Too great a risk" (company history) · Yle Elävä arkisto (Gorbachev's Cityman call, 1989) · Gale, "Nokia Corp." · Gartner (worldwide phone sales, Feb 2008) · Strategy Analytics (Q1 2012) · ETLA, "Nokia and Finland in a Sea of Change" · Vuori & Huy, Administrative Science Quarterly (via INSEAD Knowledge) · Stephen Elop's memo (Engadget, 8 Feb 2011) · Microsoft press releases (3 Sep 2013, 8 Jul 2015) · Nokia Annual Report 2025 and Q3 2026 results · Dell'Oro Group (RAN market 2025) · Federal Reserve / FRED (exchange rates)
Not affiliated with or endorsed by Nokia. Logos and product names belong to their owners and are shown for identification only.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons — Fennoradio (CC BY-SA 3.0); Yuriy Somov / Юрий Сомов (photo processing: Roman Kubanskiy) (CC BY-SA 3.0); Pete (CC BY 2.0); kallerna (CC BY-SA 4.0); Gustaf von Numers (design, 1951) (Public domain); Hugo Sundström (CC BY 4.0); Abc10 (CC BY-SA 3.0); Khaosaming (CC BY-SA 3.0); krystof.k (Twitter) & nmuseum (CC BY-SA 3.0); Kuvasiskot (CC BY 4.0); Veikk0.ma (CC BY-SA 4.0); Soppakanuuna (CC BY-SA 3.0); Jkbw (CC BY 3.0); Unknown author (Public domain); Raimond Spekking (CC BY-SA 4.0); Michael Brandtner (Public domain); Multicherry (CC0); textlad (CC BY 2.0); Nokia65 (CC BY-SA 4.0); Andrew from London, UK (CC BY-SA 2.0); Blake Patterson (CC BY 2.0); 3dh3m (CC BY-SA 3.0); luca.sartoni (CC BY-SA 2.0); Maurizio Pesce from Milan, Italia (CC BY 2.0); Petar Milošević (CC BY 4.0); -Majestic- (CC BY-SA 3.0); Ckaack (CC BY-SA 4.0); Mister rf (CC BY-SA 4.0); bijutoha (CC0); Nokia Corporation (Public domain); Evan-Amos (Public domain); Albert Gebhard (Public domain); Marcus Sümnick (CC BY 3.0); Édouard Manet (Public domain); ProjectManhattan (CC BY-SA 3.0); Bjoertvedt (CC BY-SA 3.0); Gösta Florman (Public domain); Prillen (Public domain); Ukpm (CC BY-SA 4.0); Antti Leppänen (CC BY 4.0); Rémih (CC BY-SA 4.0). Full list with links in the pinned comment.
Music: original score composed for this video, including a short re-performance of Francisco Tárrega's "Gran Vals" (1902, public domain).
Which company should we dig into next? Tell us in the comments ????
#nokia #whathappenedtonokia #nokia3310 #companyhistory #businesshistory #techhistory #documentary #beforethelogo
0:00 Gorbachev and the Mobira Cityman
1:05 A pulp mill on the rapids (1865)
2:37 Boots, cables and a strange conglomerate
4:08 Phones you carried like luggage
5:31 The years everything broke
6:57 The big bet: telecom, GSM and the Nokia tune
8:37 Four out of ten phones sold
10:11 The burning platform
13:17 The Nokia you don't see
14:47 In hindsight
15:44 Next: Samsung
???? SOURCES (full list with links in the pinned comment)
Ericsson, "Too great a risk" (company history) · Yle Elävä arkisto (Gorbachev's Cityman call, 1989) · Gale, "Nokia Corp." · Gartner (worldwide phone sales, Feb 2008) · Strategy Analytics (Q1 2012) · ETLA, "Nokia and Finland in a Sea of Change" · Vuori & Huy, Administrative Science Quarterly (via INSEAD Knowledge) · Stephen Elop's memo (Engadget, 8 Feb 2011) · Microsoft press releases (3 Sep 2013, 8 Jul 2015) · Nokia Annual Report 2025 and Q3 2026 results · Dell'Oro Group (RAN market 2025) · Federal Reserve / FRED (exchange rates)
Not affiliated with or endorsed by Nokia. Logos and product names belong to their owners and are shown for identification only.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons — Fennoradio (CC BY-SA 3.0); Yuriy Somov / Юрий Сомов (photo processing: Roman Kubanskiy) (CC BY-SA 3.0); Pete (CC BY 2.0); kallerna (CC BY-SA 4.0); Gustaf von Numers (design, 1951) (Public domain); Hugo Sundström (CC BY 4.0); Abc10 (CC BY-SA 3.0); Khaosaming (CC BY-SA 3.0); krystof.k (Twitter) & nmuseum (CC BY-SA 3.0); Kuvasiskot (CC BY 4.0); Veikk0.ma (CC BY-SA 4.0); Soppakanuuna (CC BY-SA 3.0); Jkbw (CC BY 3.0); Unknown author (Public domain); Raimond Spekking (CC BY-SA 4.0); Michael Brandtner (Public domain); Multicherry (CC0); textlad (CC BY 2.0); Nokia65 (CC BY-SA 4.0); Andrew from London, UK (CC BY-SA 2.0); Blake Patterson (CC BY 2.0); 3dh3m (CC BY-SA 3.0); luca.sartoni (CC BY-SA 2.0); Maurizio Pesce from Milan, Italia (CC BY 2.0); Petar Milošević (CC BY 4.0); -Majestic- (CC BY-SA 3.0); Ckaack (CC BY-SA 4.0); Mister rf (CC BY-SA 4.0); bijutoha (CC0); Nokia Corporation (Public domain); Evan-Amos (Public domain); Albert Gebhard (Public domain); Marcus Sümnick (CC BY 3.0); Édouard Manet (Public domain); ProjectManhattan (CC BY-SA 3.0); Bjoertvedt (CC BY-SA 3.0); Gösta Florman (Public domain); Prillen (Public domain); Ukpm (CC BY-SA 4.0); Antti Leppänen (CC BY 4.0); Rémih (CC BY-SA 4.0). Full list with links in the pinned comment.
Music: original score composed for this video, including a short re-performance of Francisco Tárrega's "Gran Vals" (1902, public domain).
Which company should we dig into next? Tell us in the comments ????
#nokia #whathappenedtonokia #nokia3310 #companyhistory #businesshistory #techhistory #documentary #beforethelogo
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