How Nokia Lost 40% of the Phone Market

The story

In 2007, almost 4 in every 10 phones sold worldwide were Nokias. Less than seven years later, Nokia sold its entire phone business to Microsoft.

This is the story of how a Finnish paper mill became the king of mobile phones, why a company with every advantage couldn't answer the iPhone, and the surprising way Nokia survived.

Three lessons

1. 1

   Being number one is not a strategy. Nokia's size made it slow, not safe.

2. 2

   Fear kills good information. If your team is afraid to bring you bad news, you will only hear it when it is too late.

3. 3

   The market doesn't reward the best hardware. It rewards the best ecosystem, and the best experience.

Chapters

1. 0:00Intro
2. 0:42A Paper Mill by the River
3. 1:33The King
4. 2:29January 9, 2007
5. 3:17The Fear Inside
6. 4:09The Burning Platform
7. 5:05The Fall
8. 5:57The Company That Refused to Die
9. 6:38Three Lessons
10. 7:09Outro

Sources

Every fact in this file is checked against published sources before release. See our standards.

• Gartner via TechCrunch: 2007 worldwide phone sales, Nokia 435M units, 40% share in Q4
• Forbes (Dec 1999): Nokia overtakes BP as Europe's most valuable company
• Guinness World Records: Nokia 1100, biggest-selling mobile phone
• Apple Newsroom (Jan 9, 2007): Apple Reinvents the Phone with iPhone
• INSEAD Knowledge: Who Killed Nokia? Nokia Did (Vuori & Huy study)
• CNN Money (Feb 11, 2011): Nokia's new strategy with Windows Phone
• CNN Money (Apr 27, 2012): Samsung ends Nokia's 14-year run
• Microsoft (Sep 3, 2013): Microsoft to acquire Nokia's Devices & Services business
• Nokia (Apr 25, 2014): Sale to Microsoft completed
• Microsoft (Jul 8, 2015): Restructuring of phone hardware business
• Nokia: Our history