ColdFusion - Nokia | The Rise And Fall [Part 1]

Starting point is 00:00:00 You are watching Cold Houston TV. Nokia. One of the most widely recognized and on average, universally liked companies ever to grace the face of this earth. When I say the name Nokia, you may think of a phone, but you may also think of something a bit more abstract and deeper than that. It may remind you of brighter times or fond memories. My very first phone was a Nokia, and this may be the case for many of you guys. Nokia was a company that could do no wrong, until, of course, they eventually did. So what's the story behind this company?

Starting point is 00:00:52 And how could a company so successful, so influential, and so pioneering, slip between the cracks to become a shell of what it once was, before eventually evaporating into the shadow of Microsoft? The lessons learned from Nokia could teach us something important. Let's begin. Nokia's history dates back to 1865 when a mining and engineering and, engineer Frederick Idistam set up his first woodpult mill in southern Finland. A few years later he opened a second mill on the banks of the Nokia and Virtua river. This river inspired him to name

Starting point is 00:01:25 his company Nokia. And I think that's kind of interesting because he would have no idea how widely recognised this name would become. Soon Nokia expanded into other industries such as rubber, cables, tires, TVs, boots and more. So it's safe to say that the early Nokia was a completely different company to the one that we know and love. With that in mind, let's move on to when Nokia became the Nokia that we actually know today. We'll pick up the story in the 1960s. At this time, there was a great deal going on in the world. Social, political, and new ways of thinking were gaining momentum in diverse places, but overshattering all of this was something particularly ominous. The Cold War. In the mid to late 1960s, the conflict wasn't so ice cold, and nuclear war

Starting point is 00:02:13 was actually a possibility. The communist superpower, the USSR, was testing their bombs, and the steadfast capitalist USA was testing their bombs. Both of these parties were testing with increasing ferocity. These tensions made the whole world nervous. The tensions were felt even in the rather neutral country of Finland, and they were taking action. They were preparing for the worst. The Finnish government wanted military research into radio telephone communications to help their country realize the full potential of reliable military communication. A little company called Nokia got the contract.

Starting point is 00:02:48 From the expertise developed in communication, and later developed into a civilian radio car telephone network that spanned the whole country by the start of the 1970s. The system was very primitive by today's standards because he actually had to take turns to speak. But the real boom and start for Nokia began in the 1980s when mass production took place. The company began to expand into mass production methods of manufacturing.

Starting point is 00:03:10 The economy of scale meant added features, meant added features, less cost, a smaller size and a cheaper price. The company exported 50% of their product and expanded globally by 1985. The Finnish company finally hit the big time when they hit the USA by teaming up with Tandy. During this time, the concept of a mobile phone was incredible. You didn't have to slot money into a machine to make a call. You didn't have to wait in a pay phone line. And you didn't have to be at home hoping that the cable could stretch just that little bit longer.

Starting point is 00:03:39 Anywhere, any time was the idea. The vastness of the market was soon realized when sales exceeded predictions by 3,000%. It just seemed that people loved to talk, and Nokia may have been onto something here. It said that the secret to Nokia's success in the late 1980s was their ability to tailor to different markets in the mobile industry while keeping the efforts going in various other industries. In 1987, Nokia created the Mobaira Cityman. It was the first Nokia phone to make major news headlines due to the fact that Michail Gerbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union at the time was spotted using the phone during press conferences.

Starting point is 00:04:16 The slogan for the city man was straight connection for those of you who need independence. But it wasn't all smooth sailing and in 1988 to 1989 Nokia found itself in a crisis. You see, at this time the Soviet Union collapsed and there was a major recession in Europe. So the demand for Nokia's diverse later products seemed to dry up overnight. Because of this, there was a change in management and Jorma or Lila, a former Citibank banker, came to take over a CEO in 1992. As a banker, Jormann knew a thing or two about management. He would make the one decision that would shape the company's future

Starting point is 00:04:49 for the next decade and a half. He decided to shed off all the company's extra pursuits and focused directly on mobiles, ushering in Nokia's golden period. The 1990s. This was the decade that Nokia truly left everyone else in the dust, though the undisputed champions of one of the fastest growing industries in history. And with that being said,

Starting point is 00:05:10 That's what we're going to leave part one of the series. Thanks so much for watching guys and if you're interested in more videos like this while you want to see the rest of the series, don't forget to subscribe and maybe leave a comment saying what your first Nokia phone was. Anyway, this has been Degogo. Thanks for watching Cole Fustin and I'll see you again soon for the next video. Cheers guys, have a good one.

ColdFusion - Nokia | The Rise And Fall [Part 1]

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