Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj in Finnish and Nokia Abp in Swedish,[5] referred to as Nokia)[a] is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, in the Helsinki metropolitan area,[3] but the company's actual roots are in the Tampere region of Pirkanmaa.[6] In 2020, Nokia employed approximately 92,000 people[7] across over 100 countries, did business in more than 130 countries, and reported annual revenues of around €23 billion.[4] Nokia is a public limited company listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki and New York Stock Exchange.[8] It was the world's 415th-largest company measured by 2016 revenues, according to the Fortune Global 500, having peaked at 85th place in 2009.[9] It is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.[10][11]
This article is about the Finnish telecommunications corporation. For the town in Finland, see Nokia, Finland. For other uses, see Nokia (disambiguation). For the wrestler known as "Noki-A", see Mika Akino.
Native name
Nokia Oyj
- Nasdaq Helsinki: NOKIA
- NYSE: NOK (ADR)
- OMX Helsinki 25 component (NOKIA)
- Nokia Aktiebolag
- Suomen Kumitehdas Oy
- Suomen Kaapelitehdas Oy
- (pre-1967 merger)
12 May 1865 in Tampere, Grand Duchy of Finland
Worldwide
€22.26 billion (2023)
€1.688 billion (2023)
€679 million (2023)
€39.86 billion (2023)
€20.63 billion (2023)
86,689 (2023)
- Bell Labs
- NGP Capital
- Nuage Networks
- Radio Frequency Systems
The company has operated in various industries over the past 150 years. It was founded as a pulp mill and had long been associated with rubber and cables, but since the 1990s has focused on large-scale telecommunications infrastructure, technology development, and licensing.[12] Nokia made significant contributions to the mobile telephony industry, assisting in the development of the GSM, 3G, and LTE standards. For a decade beginning in 1998, Nokia was the largest worldwide vendor of mobile phones and smartphones. In the later 2000s, however, Nokia suffered from a series of poor management decisions, and soon saw its share of the mobile phone market drop sharply.
After a partnership with Microsoft and Nokia's subsequent market struggles,[13][14][15] in 2014 Microsoft bought Nokia's mobile phone business,[16][17] incorporating it as Microsoft Mobile.[18] After the sale, Nokia began to focus more on its telecommunications infrastructure business and on Internet of things technologies, marked by the divestiture of its Here mapping division and the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent, including its Bell Labs research organization.[19] The company then also experimented with virtual reality and digital health, the latter through the purchase of Withings.[20][21][22][23] The Nokia brand returned to the mobile and smartphone market in 2016 through a licensing arrangement with HMD.[24] Nokia continues to be a major patent licensor for most large mobile phone vendors.[25] As of 2018, Nokia is the world's third-largest network equipment manufacturer.[26]
The company was viewed with national pride by Finns, as its mobile phone business made it by far the largest worldwide company and brand from Finland.[27] At its peak in 2000, Nokia accounted for 4% of the country's GDP, 21% of total exports, and 70% of the Nasdaq Helsinki market capital.[28][29]60°13′30″N 24°45′22″E / 60.225°N 24.756°E
Mobira 800-NDB non-directional beacon located in the Finnish Air Force signals museum
Nokia MAC 8532 laser rangefinder previously used by Finnish coastal artillery
Hämeenlinna artillery museum display containing fire control officer with Nokia artillery calculator in Finnish artillery battalion command post
Late 1980s MikroMikko 4 TT m216 desktop computer in the Museum of Technology, Helsinki, Finland
ITT Nokia television with an ITT Nokia VCR (ITT/SEL)
A 1986 Mobira pager
Corporate affairs[edit]
Corporate governance[edit]
The control and management of Nokia is divided among the shareholders at a general meeting and the Nokia Group Leadership Team (left),[240] under the direction of the board of directors (right).[241] The chairman and the rest of the Nokia Leadership Team members are appointed by the board of directors. Only the chairman of the Nokia Leadership Team can belong to both the board of directors and the Nokia Group Leadership Team. The Board of Directors' committees consist of the Audit Committee,[242] the Personnel Committee,[243] and the Corporate Governance and Nomination Committee.[244][245]
The operations of the company are managed within the framework set by the Finnish Companies Act,[246] Nokia's Articles of Association,[247] and Corporate Governance Guidelines,[248] supplemented by the board of directors' adopted charters. On 25 November 2019, Nokia announced that it would discontinue the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO) and distribute its functions to other company leaders. As a result, Chief Operating Officer Joerg Erlemeier decided to step down, effective 1 January 2020.[249]
Awards and recognition[edit]
In 2018, Nokia received the Leading Lights award for most innovative cable/video product[260] and was named to Ethisphere's 2018 world's most ethical companies list.[261]
Nokia 'Arrows' logo, after merging with the Cable Factory (Kaapelitehdas) and Finnish Rubber Works (1966–1992). Used in advertising and products until c. 1997.
Nokia introduced its "Connecting People" advertising slogan in 1992, coined by Ove Strandberg.[264][265]
![Nokia introduced its "Connecting People" advertising slogan in 1992, coined by Ove Strandberg.[264][265]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/Nokia_Connecting_People.svg/120px-Nokia_Connecting_People.svg.png){kind=small}
New slogan typeface (Nokia Sans font) introduced in 2005. Nokia Sans had been used by Nokia in products since 2002.[266]
![New slogan typeface (Nokia Sans font) introduced in 2005. Nokia Sans had been used by Nokia in products since 2002.[266]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Nokia_-_2005_logo.svg/120px-Nokia_-_2005_logo.svg.png){kind=logo}
Wordmark-only version in 2007 (the company stopped using a slogan within its logo in 2011), currently used on Nokia-branded consumer devices including HMD Global-produced phones[267]
![Wordmark-only version in 2007 (the company stopped using a slogan within its logo in 2011), currently used on Nokia-branded consumer devices including HMD Global-produced phones[267]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Nokia_wordmark.svg/120px-Nokia_wordmark.svg.png){kind=small}
Current logo since 2023
History of Nokia's corporate typeface
Controversies[edit]
NSN's provision of intercept capability to Iran[edit]
In 2008, Nokia Siemens Networks, a joint venture between Nokia and Siemens AG, reportedly provided Iran's monopoly telecom company with technology that allowed it to intercept the Internet communications of its citizens.[268] The technology reportedly allowed Iran to use deep packet inspection to read and change the content of emails, social media, and online phone calls. The technology "enables authorities to not only block communication but to monitor it to gather information about individuals, as well as alter it for disinformation purposes".[269]
During the post-election protests in Iran in June 2009, Iran's Internet access was reported to have slowed to less than a tenth of its normal speeds, which experts suspected was due to using of deep packet inspection.[270]
In July 2009, Nokia began to experience a boycott of their products and services in Iran. The boycott was led by consumers sympathetic to the post-election protest movement and targeted companies deemed to be collaborating with the regime. Demand for handsets fell and users began shunning SMS messaging.[271]
Nokia Siemens Networks asserted in a press release that it provided Iran only with a "lawful intercept capability solely for monitoring of local voice calls" and that it "has not provided any deep packet inspection, web censorship, or Internet filtering capability to Iran".[272]
Nokia–Apple patent dispute[edit]
In October 2009, Nokia filed a lawsuit against Apple Inc. in the U.S. District Court of Delaware claiming that Apple infringed on 10 of its patents related to wireless communication including data transfer.[273] Apple was quick to respond with a countersuit filed in December 2009 accusing Nokia of 11 patent infringements. Apple's general counsel, Bruce Sewell went a step further by stating, "Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours." This resulted in a legal battle between the two telecom majors with Nokia filing another suit, this time with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), alleging Apple had infringed its patents in "virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players and computers".[274] Nokia went on to ask the court to ban all U.S. imports of the Apple products, including the iPhone, Macintosh and iPod. Apple countersued by filing a complaint with the ITC in January 2010.[273]
In June 2011, Apple settled with Nokia and agreed to an estimated one time payment of $600 million and royalties to Nokia.[275] The two companies also agreed on a cross-licensing patents for some of their patented technologies.[276][277]
Alleged tax evasion in India[edit]
Nokia's Indian subsidiary was charged in January 2013 with non-payment of Indian Tax Deducted at Source and transgressing transfer pricing norms in India.[278] The unpaid TDS of ₹30 billion, accrued during a course of six years, was due to royalty paid by the Indian subsidiary to its parent company.[279]
Nokia 7 Plus data breach[edit]
In March 2019, news broke that the company's Nokia 7 Plus phones were allegedly sending personal user data to China over several months. According to investigators, the gadget sent unencrypted data packages including geographical location, SIM card number, and the phone's serial number to an unidentified Chinese server every time that "the phone was turned on, the screen activated or unlocked."[280] The data was sufficient to follow the movements and actions of the phone in real time.[280]
Nokia brand owner HMD Global denied any such transfers had taken place, stating that it was instead the result of an error in the packing process of the phone's software.[281] The Finnish Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman launched an investigation into the matter on the assumption "that personal data has been transferred."[282]
Xinjiang region[edit]
In 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute accused at least 82 major brands, including Nokia, of being connected to forced Uyghur labor in Xinjiang.[283]
