About Nokia

History Of Nokia
The predecessors of the modern Nokia were the Nokia Company (Nokia Aktiebolag), Finnish Rubber Works Ltd (Suomen Gummitehdas Oy) and Finnish Cable Works Ltd (Suomen Kaapelitehdas Oy).
Nokia's history starts in 1865 when mining engineer Fredrik Idestam established a groundwood pulp mill on the banks of the Tammerkoski rapids in the town of Tampere, in southwestern Finland, and started manufacturing paper. In 1868, Idestam built a second mill near the town of Nokia, fifteen kilometres (nine miles) west of Tampere by the Nokianvirta river, which had better resources for hydropower production. In 1871, Idestam, with the help of his close friend statesman Leo Mechelin, renamed and transformed his firm into a share company, thereby founding the Nokia Company, the name it is still known by today.
The name of the town, Nokia, originated from the river which flowed through the town. The river itself, Nokianvirta, was named after the archaic Finnish word originally meaning a small, dark-furred animal that lived on the banks of the Nokianvirta river. In modern Finnish, noki means soot and nokia is its inflected plural, although this form of the word is rarely if ever used. The old word, nois (pl. nokia) or nokinäätä ("soot marten"), meant sable.

First mobile phones
The technologies that preceded modern cellular mobile telephony systems were the various "0G" pre-cellular mobile radio telephony standards. Nokia had been producing commercial and some military mobile radio communications technology since the 1960s although this part of the company was sold some time before the later company rationalization. Since 1964, Nokia had developed VHF radio simultaneously with Salora Oy. In 1966, Nokia and Salora started developing the ARP standard (which stands for Autoradiopuhelin, or car radio phone in English), a car-based mobile radio telephony system and the first commercially operated public mobile phone network in Finland. It went online in 1971 and offered 100% coverage in 1978.
In 1979, the merger of Nokia and Salora resulted in the establishment of Mobira Oy. Mobira began developing mobile phones for the NMT (Nordic Mobile Telephony) network standard, the first-generation, first fully-automatic cellular phone system that went online in 1981. In 1982, Mobira introduced its first car phone, the Mobira Senator for NMT-450 networks.
The Mobira Cityman 150, Nokia's NMT-900 mobile phone from 1989 (left), compared to the Nokia 1100 from 2003. The Mobira Cityman line was launched in 1987.
Nokia bought Salora Oy in 1984 and now owning 100% of the company, changed the company's telecommunications branch name to Nokia-Mobira Oy. The Mobira Talkman, launched in 1984, was one of the world's first transportable phones. In 1987, Nokia introduced one of the world's first handheld phones, the Mobira Cityman 900 for NMT-900 networks (which, compared to NMT-450, offered a better signal, yet a shorter roam). While the Mobira Senator of 1982 had weighed 9.8 kg (22 lb) and the Talkman just under 5 kg (11 lb), the Mobira Cityman weighed only 800 g (28 oz) with the battery and had a price tag of 24,000 Finnish marks (approximately €4,560). Despite the high price, the first phones were almost snatched from the sales assistants’ hands. Initially, the mobile phone was a "yuppie" product and a status symbol.
Nokia's mobile phones got a big publicity boost in 1987, when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was pictured using a Mobira Cityman to make a call from Helsinki to his communications minister in Moscow. This led to the phone's nickname of the "Gorba".
In 1988, Jorma Nieminen, resigning from the post of CEO of the mobile phone unit, along with two other employees from the unit, started a notable mobile phone company of their own, Benefon Oy (since renamed to GeoSentric). One year later, Nokia-Mobira Oy became Nokia Mobile Phones.


Involvement in GSM
Nokia was one of the key developers of GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), the second-generation mobile technology which could carry data as well as voice traffic. NMT (Nordic Mobile Telephony), the world's first mobile telephony standard that enabled international roaming, provided valuable experience for Nokia for its close participation in developing GSM, which was adopted in 1987 as the new European standard for digital mobile technology.
Nokia delivered its first GSM network to the Finnish operator Radiolinja in 1989. The world's first commercial GSM call was made on July 1, 1991 in Helsinki, Finland over a Nokia-supplied network, by then Prime Minister of Finland Harri Holkeri, using a prototype Nokia GSM phone. In 1992, the first GSM phone, the Nokia 1011, was launched. The model number refers to its launch date, 10 November. The Nokia 1011 did not yet employ Nokia's characteristic ringtone, the Nokia tune. It was introduced as a ringtone in 1994 with the Nokia 2100 series.
GSM's high-quality voice calls, easy international roaming and support for new services like text messaging (SMS) laid the foundations for a worldwide boom in mobile phone use. GSM came to dominate the world of mobile telephony in the 1990s, in mid-2008 accounting for about three billion mobile telephone subscribers in the world, with more than 700 mobile operators across 218 countries and territories. New connections are added at the rate of 15 per second, or 1.3 million per day.
Personal computers and IT equipment
In the 1980s, Nokia's computer division Nokia Data produced a series of personal computers called MikroMikko. MikroMikko was Nokia Data's attempt to enter the business computer market. The first model in the line, MikroMikko 1, was released on September 29, 1981, around the same time as the first IBM PC. However, the personal computer division was sold to the British ICL (International Computers Limited) in 1991, which later became part of Fujitsu. MikroMikko remained a trademark of ICL and later Fujitsu. Internationally the MikroMikko line was marketed by Fujitsu as the ErgoPro.
Fujitsu later transferred its personal computer operations to Fujitsu Siemens Computers, which shut down its only factory in Espoo, Finland (in the Kilo district, where computers had been produced since the 1960s) at the end of March 2000, thus ending large-scale PC manufacturing in the country. Nokia was also known for producing very high quality CRT and early TFT LCD displays for PC and larger systems application. The Nokia Display Products' branded business was sold to ViewSonic in 2000. In addition to personal computers and displays, Nokia used to manufacture DSL modems and digital set-top boxes.
Growth
In the 1980s, during the era of its CEO Kari Kairamo, Nokia expanded into new fields, mostly by acquisitions. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the corporation ran into serious financial problems, a major reason being its heavy losses by the television manufacturing division and businesses that were just too diverse. These problems, and a suspected total burnout, probably contributed to Kairamo taking his own life in 1988. After Kairamo's death, Simo Vuorilehto became Nokia's Chairman and CEO. In 1990–1993, Finland underwent severe economic depression, which also struck Nokia. Under Vuorilehto's management, Nokia was severely overhauled. The company responded by streamlining its telecommunications divisions, and by divesting itself of the television and PC divisions.
Probably the most important strategic change in Nokia's history was made in 1992, however, when the new CEO Jorma Ollila made a crucial strategic decision to concentrate solely on telecommunications. Thus, during the rest of the 1990s, the rubber, cable and consumer electronics divisions were gradually sold as Nokia continued to divest itself of all of its non-telecommunications businesses.
As late as 1991, more than a quarter of Nokia's turnover still came from sales in Finland. However, after the strategic change of 1992, Nokia saw a huge increase in sales to North America, South America and Asia. The exploding worldwide popularity of mobile telephones, beyond even Nokia's most optimistic predictions, caused a logistics crisis in the mid-1990s. This prompted Nokia to overhaul its entire logistics operation. By 1998, Nokia’s focus on telecommunications and its early investment in GSM technologies had made the company the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer. Between 1996 and 2001, Nokia’s turnover increased almost fivefold from 6.5 billion euros to 31 billion euros. Logistics continues to be one of Nokia's major advantages over its rivals, along with greater economies of scale.
Releases


Reduction in size of Nokia mobile phones
Nokia opened its Komárom, Hungary mobile phone factory on May 5, 2000.
In March 2007, Nokia signed a memorandum with Cluj County Council, Romania to open a new plant near the city in Jucu commune. Moving the production from the Bochum, Germany factory to a low wage country created an uproar in Germany.
In May 2007, Nokia announced that its Nokia 1100 handset, launched in 2003, with over 200 million units shipped, was the best-selling mobile phone of all time and the world's top-selling consumer electronics product.
In November 2007, Nokia announced and released the Nokia N82, its first (and currently, only) Nseries phone with Xenon flash.
At the Nokia World conference in December 2007, Nokia announced their "Comes With Music" program: Nokia device buyers are to receive a year of complimentary access to music downloads. The service became commercially available in the second half of 2008.
In April 2008, Nokia began finding new ways to connect people, asking the "audience" to use their creativity and their mobile devices to become Nokia’s production company – to take part in filming, acting, editing and producing a collaborative film. Nokia Productions was the first ever mobile filmmaking project directed by Spike Lee. This was a collaborative experience that existed across borders and perspectives, working off a common script. The film premiered in October 2008.
In 2008, Nokia released the Nokia E71 which was marketed to directly compete with the other BlackBerry devices offering a full keyboard and cheaper prices.
Nokia announced in August 2009 that they will be selling a high-end Windows-based netbook called the Nokia Booklet 3G.
Acquisitions

The Nokia 6300, a member of the Nokia 6000 series, Nokia's largest family of phones.
On September 22, 2003, Nokia acquired Sega.com, a branch of Sega which became the major basis to develop the Nokia N-Gage device.
On November 16, 2005, Nokia and Intellisync Corporation, a provider of data and PIM synchronization software, signed a definitive agreement for Nokia to acquire Intellisync. Nokia completed the acquisition on February 10, 2006.
On June 19, 2006, Nokia and Siemens AG announced the companies would merge their mobile and fixed-line phone network equipment businesses to create one of the world's largest network firms, Nokia Siemens Networks. Each company has a 50% stake in the infrastructure company, and it is headquartered in Espoo, Finland. The companies predicted annual sales of €16 bn and cost savings of €1.5 bn a year by 2010. About 20,000 Nokia employees were transferred to this new company.
On August 8, 2006, Nokia and Loudeye Corp. announced that they had signed an agreement for Nokia to acquire online music distributor Loudeye Corporation for approximately US $60 million. The company has been developing this into an online music service in the hope of using it to generate handset sales. The service, launched on August 29, 2007, is aimed to rival iTunes. Nokia completed the acquisition on October 16, 2006.
In July 2007, Nokia acquired all assets of Twango, the comprehensive media sharing solution for organizing and sharing photos, videos and other personal media.
In September 2007, Nokia announced its intention to acquire Enpocket, a supplier of mobile advertising technology and services.
In October 2007, pending shareholder and regulatory approval, Nokia bought Navteq, a U.S.-based supplier of digital mapping data, for a price of $8.1 billion. Nokia finalized the acquisition on July 10, 2008.
In September, 2008, Nokia acquired OZ Communications, a privately held company with approximately 220 employees headquartered in Montreal, Canada.
On July 24, 2009, Nokia announced that it will acquire certain assets of cellity, a privately owned mobile software company which employs 14 people in Hamburg, Germany. The acquisition of cellity was completed on August 5, 2009.
Evolution of the Nokia Communicator. Models 9000, 9110, 9210 and 9500 shown.
Since January 1, 2008, Nokia comprises three business groups: Devices, Services and Markets. The three main units receive operational support from the Corporate Development Office, led by Mary T. McDowell, which is also responsible for exploring corporate strategic and future growth opportunities.
On April 1, 2007, Nokia’s Networks business group was combined with Siemens’ carrier-related operations for fixed and mobile networks to form Nokia Siemen Networks, jointly owned by Nokia and Siemens and consolidated by Nokia
Devices
The Devices division is responsible for developing and managing Nokia's mobile device portfolio, including the sourcing of components, headed by Kai Öistämö. The division consists of the previous mainline Mobile Phones division with the separate subdivisions Multimedia (Nseries devices) and Enterprise Solutions (Eseries devices) as well as formerly centralized core devices R&D – called Technology Platforms.
This division provides the general public with mobile voice and data products across a wide range of mobile devices, including high-volume, consumer oriented mobile phones and devices, and more expensive multimedia and enterprise-class devices. The devices are based on GSM/EDGE, 3G/W-CDMA and CDMA cellular technologies. Nokia's Nseries Multimedia Computers extensively uses Symbian OS.
In the first quarter of 2006 Nokia sold over 15 million MP3 capable mobile phones, which means that Nokia is not only the world's leading supplier of mobile phones and digital cameras (as most of Nokia's mobile telephones feature digital cameras, it is also believed that Nokia has recently overtaken Kodak in camera production making it the largest in the world), Nokia is now also the leading supplier of digital audio players (MP3 players), outpacing sales of devices such as the iPod from Apple. At the end of the year 2007, Nokia managed to sell almost 440 million mobile phones which accounted for 40% of all global mobile phones sales.
Services
The Services division operates in five areas of consumer Internet services: music, maps, media, messaging and games. The division consists of the previous enterprise and consumer driver services businesses previously hosted in Multimedia and Enterprise Solutions divisions, as well as a number of new acquisitions (Loudeye, Gate5, Enpocket, Intellisync, Avvenu and OZ Communications), headed by Niklas Savander.
The group works with companies outside the telecommunications industry to make advances in the technology and bring new applications and possibilities in areas such as online services, optics, music synchronization and streaming media.
Markets
The Markets division, the successor organization to Nokia's Customer and Market Operations division, is responsible for the management of the supply chains, sales channels, brand and marketing functions of the company, headed by Anssi Vanjoki