The rise and fall of Nokia - lessons from failure

One of the pivotal moments in life as we know it today was the emergence of cellular phones. The emergence of this sector gave rise to a plethora of brands, such as Apple, Redmi, Samsung, and the brand that was leading them all - Nokia. But sadly, what was a behemoth then is now just a footnote.

The once iconic cell phone that we saw in the hands of almost every adult, also named the Best selling Mobile Phone Brand in the world (October 1998), is now rarely even spoken about. So what went wrong? What resulted in Nokia’s downfall? Let’s explore the Nokia case study and find out what factors caused its tragic “from success to failure” story.

The following are the major factors that accounted for Nokia’s downfall:

• Resistance to the only constant- Change: With the rapid pace of change, especially in technology, Nokia’s resistance didn’t help their brand. It kept producing older versions of its phones as compared to its competitors, who kept upgrading their phones. As a result, their market shifted to these newer, more affordable ones.

• No strategic plan: Nokia’s rivals, such as Apple and Samsung, had a successful marketing strategy that kept their customers and potential ones interested and on the lookout for their new products. They both used the umbrella branding strategy (such as Samsung with their Galaxy series) that kept users hooked. Seeing this, Nokia tried to release its own line of hardware and software, but it already existed in the market because of its competitors.

• Innovation: As the demand for their phones increased, Nokia focused most of its resources on its manufacturing rather than its innovation. Even with the release of their Nokia Lumia phone, they provided the most basic features with the dullest visuals compared to their competitors.

• Overestimated strength: Nokia’s management believed that their market would wait for them and buy their phones regardless of what they produced and hence, didn’t focus much on what their competitors put out. They got stuck with outdated hardware and buggy software which resulted in Nokia’s downfall.

Check out these links to know more about the rise and fall of Nokia:

• https://www.doersempire.com/why-nokia-failed/#:~:text=Initially%2C%20the%20new%20technology%2C%20urge,company%20on%20the%20strategic%20level -The history, fall and what we can learn from it.

• https://www.feedough.com/why-did-nokia-fail/ -The rise, timeline of Nokia’s failure and its reasons.

https://startuptalky.com/reasons-why-nokia-failed/ -Reasons for Nokia’s failure and FAQs.