Nokia: Losing Ground in India

Nokia: Losing Ground in India
Case Code: BSTR447
Case Length: 19 Pages
Period: 1994 - 2013
Pub Date: 2014
Teaching Note: Not Available
Price: Rs.500
Organization: Nokia
Industry: Telecommunications
Countries: India
Themes: Globalization, Strategic Alliance, Growth Strategies
Nokia: Losing Ground in India
Abstract Case Intro 1 Case Intro 2 Excerpts

About Nokia

Nokia, which evolved from a riverside paper mill in south-western Finland, derived its name from Nokianvirta River. In 1865, an engineer Fredrik Idestam (Idestam) set up a wood pulp mill at Tammerkoski Rapids, in Tampere, Finland. In 1871, another mill was established on the banks of Nokianvirta River from where he got the idea of naming his company Nokia Ab. Later on, the company entered the rubber business after the Finnish Rubber Works company, founded by Eduard Polon, became a part of Nokia's business. The products offered ranged from galoshes to tires, and Nokia’s rubber boots became famous for their classic designs. In 1912, the foundation of Nokia's next business, electronics and cables, was laid when the Finnish Cable Works was established by Arvid Wickstom. Nokia Ab, working closely with Finnish Cable Works and the Finnish Rubber Works, made its first in-house electronic device – a pulse analyzer which was used in nuclear power plants. By 1987, Nokia had become the third largest television manufacturer in Europe. In 1967, the official merger of the three companies: Nokia Ab, Finnish Cable Works, and Finnish Rubber Works took place and Nokia Corporation was formed. Its businesses included rubber, cable, forestry, electronics, and power generation. During the late 1970s and the early 1980s, mobile communications was an emerging trend, and Nokia decided to try its luck in this new and growing industry.

In 1979, Nokia entered into a joint venture with Salora, a Finnish TV maker, to create a radio telephone company 'Mobira Oy'. In 1981, the world’s first international cellular network, which also allowed international roaming , was launched by Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT). The following year, Nokia launched its first car phone – the Mobira Senator – along with the start of its first digital telephone switch – the NokiaDX200. In 1984, its first portable car phone – the Mobira Talkman – was launched and in 1987, the Mobira Cityman, the first hand held mobile phone, was floated in the market. The then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was pictured with this mobile phone, making a call from Helsinki to Moscow and so the phone got the nickname 'Gorba'. The mobile phone weighed around 800 grams and was priced at 24,000 Finnish Marks but it still managed to revolutionize the mobile industry...

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