Posted by XperiaJunkie
The era of Nokia as a mobile phone manufacturer is over after Microsoft completed a deal to buy the Finnish firm's troubled device division.
Microsoft acquires Nokia's smartphone and mobile phone businesses as part of the $7.5bn (£4.46bn) deal, plus its design team, most of its manufacturing and assembly facilities and operations, and sales and marketing support.
Nokia led the phone market for years
The closure of the deal ends the production of mobile phones by the Finnish company, which had led the field for more than a decade.
It peaked with 40% global market share in 2008.
Nokia says it will now focus on networks, mapping services and technology development and licences.
More details of its future plans will be given when it releases first-quarter earnings on April 29.
Microsoft will acquire 25,000 Nokia employees in 50 countries.
More than 4,000 employees in Finland will transfer to Microsoft, and Nokia's headquarters Helsinki will be taken over.
I'm personally saddened by this news even though it has been coming for a while now. Nokia once a mobile giant will now just be a memory you will tell your grandchildren of in years to come of how excited you were when you could eventually go through the walls on "Snake" and how you sent an email on the communicator all those years ago.
Goodbye Nokia you will be missed.
Stephen Elop, former Nokia CEO turned Microsoft executive, said: "The opportunity for Microsoft to be both a devices and services company, so that it can deliver the complete proposition to its consumers, is at the heart of this."
What are you fond memories of Nokia and what is their best ever phone and why?
[ This Message was edited by: XperiaJunkie on 2014-04-25 21:03 ]
Posted by XperiaJunkie
Microsoft already taking down the Nokia sign at their headquarters in Finland
http://mblog.gsmarena.com/move-microsoft-logo-replaces-nokia-log/
Posted by XperiaJunkie
A brief history of Nokia
THE EARLY YEARS
In the year 1865 Fredrik Idestam built a paper manufacturing mill in Southern Finland and followed it up by launching a second mill in the nearby town of Nokia in 1868. Three years later Idestam transformed his company to a share company and the Nokia company was formed.
Nokia kept growing through the 19th century and in the 1960s the company branched out into electronics. In the next two years it developed a host of electronic devices including radio telephones for the army. In 1979 Nokia took its first steps into telephony by creating Mobira Oy in a JV with Finnish TV maker Salora, and they created the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) service. This was the world’s first international cellular network and in the 80s, Nokia launched its first car phone called the Mobira Senator.
Five years later Nokia launched the Mobira Cityman, the first mobile phone that would run on the company’s NMT network. At 800 grams and priced at $6,308, it may be heavy and pricey by today’s standards, but the device soon hit cult status when Mikhail Gorbachev was photographed using the device.
THE GLORY YEARS
The 90s were the glory years for the Finnish company. In 1994, Nokia launched the 2100 with the now iconic Nokia ringtone. Three years later it launched Snake, one of the most widely recognized mobile games of all time. The Nokia 2100 was such a big hit that it went on to sell more than 20 million handsets worldwide, much higher than what the company had predicted.
In 1997, Nokia also launched the Communicator, which 11 years before the first iPhone was considered to be much ahead of its time. The device not only looked cool, but also offered features like email, fax, calendar and a massive display.
The same year, Nokia also launched the 6110 and the 5110 two more devices, which were way ahead of their time and competition. These devices offered a much sleeker way of text messaging, a beautiful menu system customization options like multiple color snap-on covers. These devices were followed by the 7110, which offered basic web functions, the 7650, with a built-in camera and the 6650, the company’s first 3G enabled smartphone.
By 1998, Nokia had firmly established itself as the global leader. Where its rivals like Apple, Sony and Siemens had failed to predict the global demand, Nokia sailed through these years with a turnover that increased 500 percent from $ 8.9 billion to $42.8 billion.
THE DOWNFALL
nokia-stephen-elopThere is an old Finnish tale, which talks about Sampo, an engine of eternal wealth created by the poor people of Kalevala. Sampo essentially grinds out gold, salt and wheat from three horns, day and night, but as nothing good lasts forever, one day Sampo drowns to the bottom of the lake and the people of Kalevala are returned to their gloom and poverty.
As is with old tales, one can easily relate Nokia to the Sampo. After the glorious 90s, in 2007 things began to go downhill — and rapidly. In the year 2009, Nokia posted its first quarterly loss in more than a decade. This was largely due to HTC developing a smartphone running on the yet new Google Android operating system. With the iPhones and various Android smartphones taking the market by storm, Nokia failed to keep up with them. Instead of joining the horde of Android adopters, Nokia’s new CEO Stephen Elop joined hands with Microsoft to develop smartphones running on the Windows Phone platform.
Though the partnership saw the development of Nokia’s popular Lumia series of smartphones, Nokia wasn’t able to rekindle its glory days.
END OF AN ERA
On September 3, 2013, Nokia announced that its hardware department would be acquired by Microsoft in a deal worth $7.2 billion. After eight months, the deal was completed today and with it came the end of an era.
[ This Message was edited by: XperiaJunkie on 2014-04-25 21:39 ]
Posted by Bonovox
Posted by Bonovox
When I worked in a 4 star hotel for over a decade the hotel rooms used to have Nokia TV's
I hate Elop 
Posted by XperiaJunkie
It is a shame but the the bigger they are the harder they fall. Elop certainly was a catalyst in the downfall of Nokia and his biggest failing was probably not to jump on the Android bandwagon and instead continue to develop a platform that was on its last legs in Symbian. Things did improve but it was to little to late.
[ This Message was edited by: XperiaJunkie on 2014-04-25 22:29 ]
Posted by Bonovox
So the last flagship with Nokia name maybe the Lumia 930
Posted by Tsepz_GP
Nokia's arrogance
Their handling of Symbian Ltd
The N96
The N97
Elop
To me these are the main things that brought them down.
The Nokia N8 was something they should've launched a whole year earlier, along with Symbian Belle, their final range of Symbians were well specced devices in their time and we still have the 808 PureView as the benchmark for mobile photography, it was all too little too late and Microsoft's interference was a catalyst indeed.
Never thought I'd see Nokia reduced to what it is now, unbelievable. Thats ALL the main veterans gone: Nokia, Ericsson, SonyEricsson, Motorola, Siemens etc... The mobile industry is just so cruel, one day we may be saying R.I.P Apple and Samsung, and some Chinese OEM like Huawei will be at the top.
Posted by Bonovox
I think if Nokia didn't have it's great camera tech there wouldn't be much left.
Posted by XperiaJunkie
I wonder if Microsoft will change the Nokia splash screen on phones they update to 8.1. I know Sony done that with the Arc S when the buy out from Ericsson was complete.
Posted by razec
From here on Nokia will only be remembered outside the world of technophiles as the company that produced the toughest phone not even chuck norris could break
[ This Message was edited by: razec on 2014-04-26 12:40 ]
Posted by Bonovox
Posted by XperiaJunkie
@Razec that is awesome and exactally how we should remember Nokia. I think the 3310 was sold over 126 million times, that is simply epic.
Some say it is made from adamantium and if one should break the world would cease to exist but all we know it as is the Nokia 3310.
Posted by Ranjith
Truly sad.Its a shame since NOKIA's/WP are selling much better now.MS got them at the right time.I hope they retained the name though
Posted by amirprog
I never liked nokia, never. i would even call it an allergy.
well, its only for the benefit of consumers as i'm sure microsoft will do better job and bring stronger competition. more competition = better for consumers. if sony and other oem's start making their flagships with windows OS i would consider buying... but i don't see that happening any time soon...
Posted by XperiaJunkie
This thread is not about weather you like or dislike Nokia it's about all the good things they did especially in the the late 90's and into the next decade. I Personally wasn't that keen on Nokia although I did have a few Sony Ericsson devices running Symbian. If it wasn't for Nokia in those early years we most certainly wouldn't be were we are now and for that I say thank you Nokia 👍
Posted by XperiaJunkie
With the sale of Nokia to Microsoft it gets me thinking which will be the next major phone manufacturer to either go bust or forced to sell up. I think the obvious ones would be htc and BlackBerry it is well documented about their financial status and things may not be getting any better especially for BlackBerry who have yet to do anything solid with BB10 and it has been out for over a year. I do think unless they can come up with a serious product to challenge the major flagship devices then I give it 18 months to 2 years and BlackBerry will be no more. Hopefully HTC can start to turn things round the have a fantastic flagship device in the M8 but even that has some flaws of its own which the same didn't help sales of the previous model. Sales of the M8 are said to be good but is it enough to pull them back in the black, only time will tell and fingers crossed both manufacturers can have a few good years and help them get back on track.
Posted by Tsepz_GP
Blackberry, HTC and a few others are going to continue making losses while the juggernauts Apple and Samsung take the lions share and the Chinese makers begin to eat into the scraps that the rest take, I think LG is the only other maker who have a chance of making it out of what we are in if they continue on their current path.
There is going to be a lot of fatalities outside of China, it's going to get very ugly, IMO, if these Chinese OEMs like Huawei and ZTE continue on their relentless path of super low pricing and network partnerships, unless certain companies begin opening their eyes and start very heavy R&D in Africa and other developing areas as that is where there is still plenty of growth.
I'd say now is the time for some makers to dig deep and begin spending heavily on R&D and marketing.
I've been watching a documentary on BBC Knowledge called "The Chinese Are Coming", it reveals just how rapidly and effectively they've managed to get into many countries such as Angola, Tanzania, Brazil etc... They are just so relentless, I see their OEMs taking out more than just BB and Htc.
[ This Message was edited by: Tsepz_GP on 2014-04-26 22:15 ]
Posted by XperiaJunkie
^ I completely agree with you about China becoming an electronic superpower. Their rise in the last 2-3 years has been phenomenal, emerging markets is key for growth I know Sony have had a lot of success in India even overtaking Apple to claim the number 2 manufacturer there and a similar story in China with dual sim variants and the Xperia C has been great sales wise in both countries.
Posted by amirprog
@XperiaJunkie
No, don't get me wrong. i appreciate Nokia for their efforts in mobile and making other companies work harder to manufacture better devices! i wouldn't be the same without nokia. i hope the same for any oem. i hope that microsoft and windows os start to give a fight to android and apple already. i hope that Chinese manufacturers will kick the others in the butt, especially sony and make sony work harder on their weaknesses - like starting to invest in usa market and perfecting the Z line more, and the same for the other manufacturers, like you guys said. more competition = always better for consumers.
Posted by fluke9
My 3310 went for numerous jaunts from the roof of my car,chipped scratched still worked.
Posted by Bonovox
My fondest memories of Nokia. The N8, N95 8 gig, Nokia N73, E72 and 6210. I think also Oppo could be ones to watch too.
Posted by McKinley
My first Nokia ever was the 6110.
As always when it comes to things. I customise the look and my 6110 was not an exception.
I had a flashing antenna and chromed body. I just remember how well you could spin your 6110 on its battery.
Whenever it called, I would just spin my phone because I thought it looked so awesome.
I also owned the legendary and the most beautifully phone ever made; the 8850 with blue light and premium feeling.
Phones back then had so much character unlike phones today.
Who didn't own the popular 6230?
One last thing
[ This Message was edited by: McKinley on 2014-04-27 02:12 ]
Posted by Del
It brings tears to my eyes now thinking other Nokia have gone, for me my finest memory of a Nokia is for my old 8210 who remembers that one? It lasted for days on one charge, my wife bought me logo manager for it for a Christmas present and I could mod everything on it
and I've still got it.
I hope Microsoft can still develope the lumia range and invest heavily in greater things for it instead of letting the brand go stale and under.
And as others have said I think all the other OEM's better watch out for the Chinese, there a coming for us but more competition makes it better for us the consumer.
Posted by mlife
Obviously Nokia did much good for the industry... and setting aside camera phones, my two favorite "nokia memories" were the day I got my 3360 as it was VERY exciting to have the ability to change covers at will
-AND-
the day I got my observation camera as it was just such a cool idea to be able to request pictures via MMS (both devices, I still have to this day).
[ This Message was edited by: mlife on 2014-04-27 17:34 ]
Posted by cu015170
Posted by Tsepz_GP
The Nokia "Tube", later unveiled as the legendary 5800xm, I miss mine, recently gave it away, with all it's original accessories (TV-out cable, Stand, spare stylus, the guitar pick thingy etc...) to someone who needed it, hope they are taking good care of it as it was a very solid smartphone.
Posted by XperiaJunkie
This funny, ironic and sad all in one
Posted by Supa_Fly
On 2014-04-26 00:23:37, Tsepz_GP wrote:
Nokia's arrogance
Their handling of Symbian Ltd
The N96
The N97
Elop
To me these are the main things that brought them down.
The Nokia N8 was something they should've launched a whole year earlier, along with Symbian Belle, their final range of Symbians were well specced devices in their time and we still have the 808 PureView as the benchmark for mobile photography, it was all too little too late and Microsoft's interference was a catalyst indeed.
Never thought I'd see Nokia reduced to what it is now, unbelievable. Thats ALL the main veterans gone: Nokia, Ericsson, SonyEricsson, Motorola, Siemens etc... The mobile industry is just so cruel, one day we may be saying R.I.P Apple and Samsung, and some Chinese OEM like Huawei will be at the top.
WHAT?!
The N96 was still in the Symbian Hey-day!
The N97 was the perfect device for it's time ... there was issues with the hardware, touch display and recall this was JUST after/before the iPhone original was announced, ANNOUNCED not launched!
Nokia has always led with design innovations that the market seemed to have forgotten and feared.
N97, N95/N80, N90, N-Gage/QD, lipstick phone, 7700 the ORIGINAL Phablet!, etc etc. You couldn't count less if you tried with all of there phones pictured and labelled in front of you.
No the issue with Nokia is what happened to BlacKBerry ....
they got TOO fat, and rested on their laurels ... didn't SEE nor cared for the changes in markets that where beyond trends. They where simply STUBBORN! They kept hiring from within (same for BOTH) continued to squander money on executives for poor performance failed to recognize innovative leaders inside/outside instead bumping up on seniority for that sake alone. They wanted to 'keep it Finnish' ... there in lied their issue ... the world is NOT one people it's a mix of many peoples and they all have wants/needs and continue to evolve ... nokia just didn't want to.
Nokia gave up on Symbian ... they made it open source and for a short while it was the RIGHT/SMART move to make! Having an open forum was also great ... Qualcomm was the first to develop a hardware platform for it and again smart move. The issue is Symbian's UI and touch screen did NOT evolve quick enough in the open source chapters. Plus they still wanted a license fee ... this opened up the gates to Android!
Samsung jumped on Android because it was a fresh start and a perfect platform for them to highlight advances in their many production plants from LCD, to chips, to RAM ... under Nokia's rule of S60 they where screwed over (like LG) over and over again!
It peaked with 40% global market share in 2008.
^% I think Nokia had 70% of the global market share if not MORE = phones, over 54% for smartphones I'm sure!
Posted by Supa_Fly
On 2014-04-26 23:08:15, Tsepz_GP wrote:
Blackberry, HTC and a few others are going to continue making losses while the juggernauts Apple and Samsung take the lions share and the Chinese makers begin to eat into the scraps that the rest take, I think LG is the only other maker who have a chance of making it out of what we are in if they continue on their current path.
There is going to be a lot of fatalities outside of China, it's going to get very ugly, IMO, if these Chinese OEMs like Huawei and ZTE continue on their relentless path of super low pricing and network partnerships, unless certain companies begin opening their eyes and start very heavy R&D in Africa and other developing areas as that is where there is still plenty of growth.
I'd say now is the time for some makers to dig deep and begin spending heavily on R&D and marketing.
I've been watching a documentary on BBC Knowledge called "The Chinese Are Coming", it reveals just how rapidly and effectively they've managed to get into many countries such as Angola, Tanzania, Brazil etc... They are just so relentless, I see their OEMs taking out more than just BB and Htc.
[ This Message was edited by: Tsepz_GP on 2014-04-26 22:15 ]
Start looking at TedTalks!
The Chinese industrial age is coming to a slow standstill in a very short time. BTW, it's Taiwanese I think ... not the Chinese ... they assemble not manufacture as much. Next nation for textiles and manufacturing will be all of Africa ... first in the western countries of the continent then the south. Each time a nation gets into textiles and manufacturing it does so at an exponential rate than the last: N. America (USA, Canada, Mexico), Europe, then China, now it's Eastern Asian countries ... soon it'll be in the continent of Africa.
PS: HTC was an OEM long ago ... for Orange, Vodafone, etc building their branded PocketPC-PE's or Smartphone Edition devices and did so with Aplomb. What a difference 10yrs makes in the world.
Posted by Tsepz_GP
You've got your years completely wrong WRT N97, the iPhone3GS was just about to launch when the N97 arrived, there was mass exodus in that period, many ran to the iPhone3GS when it launched.
N97 arrived in June 2009:
http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_n97-2615.php
iPhone 3GS also began shipping in June 2009:
http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_3gs-2826.php
The OG iPhone was released in 2007, just after the N95, if I'm not mistaken.
The Nokia N96 was a complete fail, it was meant to bring DVB-H mobile TV to the masses, as well as push Ngage gaming services, by 2010 Nokia had killed off both.
They were focussed on all the wrong things, while N97 came with both a Touchscreen and full QWERTY, its UI was cumbersome and quite bloated, not to mention the N97 came with too little Internal mem, yes it had 32GB mass mem but the memory where app+game data went was too little, and the RAM was tiny to for all those widgets, on top of all that it came with a weak Freescale CPU, a CPU that didn't have a GPU, everything was done by the CPU itself, all that led to an awful experience. I remember the V20 and V21 FWs that were meant to bring major improvements but didn't, Nokia had created a dog of a phone, SE and Samsung had better products with the Satio and OmniaHD but Apple shot past all with the 3GS which at the time had very powerful hardware.
The period between 2007 to 2010 will remain in my memory banks for a long time as after the N95, Nokia made crucial mistakes.
Posted by Bonovox
I remember reviews of the N97 saying how slow it was. I also remember an old work mate had the N Gage
he looked a right plonker making a call on it. One phone I forgot was the Nokia 7650 I loved that.
Posted by Supa_Fly
On 2014-04-26 21:55:11, XperiaJunkie wrote:
With the sale of Nokia to Microsoft it gets me thinking which will be the next major phone manufacturer to either go bust or forced to sell up. I think the obvious ones would be htc and BlackBerry it is well documented about their financial status and things may not be getting any better especially for BlackBerry who have yet to do anything solid with BB10 and it has been out for over a year. I do think unless they can come up with a serious product to challenge the major flagship devices then I give it 18 months to 2 years and BlackBerry will be no more. Hopefully HTC can start to turn things round the have a fantastic flagship device in the M8 but even that has some flaws of its own which the same didn't help sales of the previous model. Sales of the M8 are said to be good but is it enough to pull them back in the black, only time will tell and fingers crossed both manufacturers can have a few good years and help them get back on track.
There is a LOT more to BB than just their phone sales business .... there is BES which is doing VERY good actually - considering it was ranked the lowest on the magic quadrant and now the top listing again. Funny because they where never ranked until late summer 2013 and they've been in and pretty much started the MDM/EMM business pioneering it with say only Good Technologies and maybe IntelliSync before Nokia purchased and then ultimately sold it to Motorola; which did the same by selling it.
But this converstation is focused on Nokia.
Nokia is NOT dead per sey but I really think they'll evolve into a third business strategy soon enough.
Posted by cu015170
They messed up with Symbian big time.. it was their biggest investment, biggest opportunity, and biggest fail
For anyone who actually cares to learn a bit of history read the following
The saga with Microsoft has been going on for much longer than most people realize
http://www.theregister.co.uk/[....]nokia_microsoft_history?page=2
The history of Symbian is a huge part of that. Microsoft's position in the mobile world today is directly related to Nokia's decision to use Symbian over Windows CE
Part 1: http://www.theregister.co.uk/[....]ory_part_one_dark_star/?page=1
Part 2: http://www.theregister.co.uk/[....]bian_history_part_two_ui_wars/
Part 3: http://www.theregister.co.uk/[....]arles_davies_interview/?page=1
Also Gates's attitude is very clear
http://www.theregister.co.uk/[....]_rails_at_proprietary_symbian/
So all in all Microsoft have been after Nokia's business for a looong time..
I wish them good luck.
[ This Message was edited by: cu015170 on 2014-04-28 06:41 ]
Posted by TeeGee
On 2014-04-28 03:18:00, Bonovox wrote:
I also remember an old work mate had the N Gage
he looked a right plonker making a call on it.
Yeah, that's what we all thought then
. But tbh, people with a phablet at their ear look the same now
On a more serious note: Nokia's very talented and passionate people and Microsoft's money could be a good combination, so I hope for a bright future
[ This Message was edited by: TeeGee on 2014-04-28 14:09 ]
Posted by Bonovox
Ah no that depends on the size of the phablet. My Note 3 isn't all that big. I wouldn't look as silly as I would making a call on an N Gage
Posted by Bonovox
http://www.wpcentral.com/nokia-readying-new-lumia-5-mp-front-facing-camera
Nokia prepping for a new Lumia with a 5 meg front camera later this year. So will the 930 not be the last with the Nokia name on??
Posted by XperiaJunkie
I highly doubt any un released or future products will carry the Nokia brand. Microsoft are fairly ruthless when it comes to branding and I do think the 930 will be the last Nokia branded Lumia device we will ever see.
Posted by cu015170
On 2014-04-28 15:41:00, Bonovox wrote:
http://www.wpcentral.com/noki[....]lumia-5-mp-front-facing-camera
Nokia prepping for a new Lumia with a 5 meg front camera later this year. So will the 930 not be the last with the Nokia name on??
930 won't be the last smartphone with Nokia branding.
Posted by Bonovox
They still carrying on with the Asha brand
Posted by cu015170
http://www.neowin.net/news/in[....]more-about-the-finnish-company
http://www.amazon.com/Decline-Fall-Nokia-David-Cord/dp/9515233208
It should be a good read..
"What was the most surprising thing you learned about Nokia's history while you did research for the book?"
"The most surprising thing was that Nokia was very rarely caught off-guard. They knew the industry would move towards touchscreens. They knew ecosystems would become all-important and the internet would go mobile. They courted app developers long before Apple or Google. Despite the fact they knew where the industry was going, they were unable to act. Their organizational structure and culture had devolved into this bureaucratic, inward-looking entity. Theirs was not a failure of foresight; it was a failure in execution."
That pretty much sums up the company. They had touch screen Symbian phones before the iPhone was even an idea.. oh well..
Posted by Ranjith
Siemens
Ericsson
Motorola
Sony Ericsson
NOKIA
New age and now we have new players.Sad to see all the old timers go
Posted by Bonovox
I used to love Siemens phones
Posted by cu015170
On 2014-04-28 20:57:58, Ranjith wrote:
Siemens
Ericsson
Motorola
Sony Ericsson
NOKIA
If you reverse the order, you will probably be very close to how things were in terms of sales and market share pre-Silicon Valley ..
Posted by cu015170
It used to say Nokia
Posted by amirprog
i said i never liked nokia. actually there's one exception. lumia 1520. it impress me as all around phablet. too bad it uses windows os. but it's a very good phablet for people who like that os and want a phablet.
Posted by alenn
A lot of history gone here.
The N900 and N9 looked so promising.
If only Nokia could start from scratch again, start small but develop a good OS or continue where they left off with MeeGo... Just wishful thinking.
Can't wait to have spare money, I'm gonna buy all the Nokia flagships and store them for the future...
Posted by XperiaJunkie
I just keep thinking if Nokia jumped on the Android bandwagon a few years ago they not only would still be here but could even be at the top instead of Samsung. Thanks Elop, thanks alot.
Posted by Bonovox
He's made his money & had his cake and eat it
http://www.reuters.com/articl[....]o-payout-idUSBREA3T0KD20140430
Posted by XperiaJunkie
I read that on GSMarena. Can't believe he is getting a massive payout like that when he almost single handedly ruined the company.