The most dominating mobile industry that once ruled entire cell phone markets is ready for a comeback action. Roughly 10 years ago, one did not have to look at the reviews or suggestions to buy a mobile phone, just the brand Nokia was enough. Once a part of everyone’s household, is now a luxury masterpiece with mind boggling specifications and the very “Nokia” trust of toughness and durability.
Named in 1871 after the Nokiavirta river where mining engineer Fredrik Idestam set up his second paper mill, Nokia spent more than a century making tyres, boots and cables before producing its first handheld mobile phone, the Mobira Cityman, in 1987.
Nicknamed the Gorba after former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was pictured using one, it weighed 800 grams and carried an even more daunting price tag-24,000 Finnish marks (4,650 euro’s). In 1992 Nokia sold off its non-mobile divisions and launched its first digital handheld GSM phone, the Nokia 1011.
The basic Nokia 1100, launched in 2003 was a runaway hit, shifting 250 million units, making it not just world’s best-selling mobile, but the most popular consumer electronics device of any kind. Nokia remained the world’s largest vendor of mobile phones until being knocked off by the top spot by Samsung in 2012, but lost its lead in the lucrative smartphone market a year earlier, having been on the back foot since the launch of Apple’s iPhone in 2007.
Nokia unveiled its first Windows phone handsets, the Lumia 710 and 800, in October 2011 after a strategic decision by new chief executive Stephen Elop to ditch its own ailing Symbian operating system in favour of the Microsoft equivalent.
Nokia picked up the pace of product launches in 2013, including the unveiling of its Lumia 1020 with a 41 MP camera. Also it announced a 15 euro phone, cheapest among other competitors.
It was a very shocking moment when Nokia sold its entire phone business to Microsoft for $2.2 billion, it seemed as if it had hung up forever under the crushing weight of the iPhone and Android. Though you never forget some of its goodies like the simple yet addictive “Snake game”, rough and tough use and battery life.
As we approach the 2017 Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona, our Finnish friends have confirmed that they will be at the show to share “the next exciting chapter in the Nokia consumer story”. That includes the Nokia 6 the first Android device from a company that had banked everything on Windows Phone.
In any case more eyes will be on Nokia as it takes the stage at Mobile World Congress. Blackberry also seems to launch an Android phone, which suggests that the show would be more of comeback of past mobile giants.