From the early 1990s till the birth of the Apple iPhone, Nokia meant mobile phones. Owning a basic model was the norm, a Nokia Communicator, the mark of prestige.
Known not only for being reasonably priced, Nokia handsets have gone down in pop culture as one of the sturdiest devices you’d ever come across. It was no surprise that for years together it captured more than half of the mobile device market in India.
However, the good times were eclipsed by the launch of iPhone in 2007 that completely redefined the mobile phone experience. Apple put together a modern device with a brand new ecosystem that let consumers use a mobile phone like they had never imagined they could.
Apple with its single product — the iPhone — managed to draw the masses with its ecosystem, something that wasn’t an easy for Nokia to emulate with its complex portfolio of products.
While the company did try to up its game by working on its Symbian OS, the progress was never quick enough or interesting enough. By 2011, Apple had become the world’s biggest smartphone company while Nokia’s share plummeted despite a series of tech acquisitions.
The company’s first non-Finnish CEO, Stephen Elop, was hired to set things right. Things started taking a turn when Nokia entered a strategic partnership with Microsoft to produce smartphones on the Windows Phone platform. The resultant line-up — Nokia Lumia — has slowly yet steadily gathered momentum in the last three years.
A late start with Windows has led to competing operating systems such as Android and iOS building an ever-increasing arsenal of apps. This is still a major influencer for consumers who are going to buy new smartphones.
However, with a strong legacy in hardware and the acquisition by Microsoft might indicate the possibility of a lot of innovation on its way for the consumer and more reason for Nokia loyalists to rejoice.