Company Perspectives:
Nokia is a leading international communications company, focused on the key growth areas of wireline and wireless telecommunications. Nokia is a pioneer in digital technology and wireless data communications, continuously bringing innovations to the highly competitive and growing telecommunications markets. Nokia is also actively involved in international R & D cooperation, including the development of the standards for third generation mobile telephony.
Key Dates:
1865: Nokia Company is founded as a maker of pulp and paper.
1898: Finnish Rubber Works is founded.
1912: Finnish Cable Works is formed.
1915: Nokia shares are first listed on the Helsinki exchange.
1967: Nokia merges with Finnish Rubber Works and Finnish Cable Works to form Nokia Corporation.
1979: Mobira Oy is formed as a mobile phone company.
1981: The first international cellular system, the Nordic Mobile Telephone network, comes on line, having been developed with the help of Nokia.
1982: Nokia acquires Mobira, which later becomes the Nokia Mobile Phones division.
1986: Company markets internationally the first Nokia mobile telephone.
1993: The first Nokia digital cellular phone hits the market.
1998: Nokia surpasses Motorola as the world's number one maker of mobile phones.
Company History:
Nokia Corporation is the world's largest manufacturer of mobile phones, with a worldwide market share of about 27 percent, far surpassing the number two player, Ericsson, which has about 17 percent. About two-thirds of the company's net sales are generated by the Nokia Mobile Phones business group. Nokia's other main business group is Nokia Networks, which is responsible for about 30 percent of net sales. Nokia Networks is a leading global supplier of infrastructure for mobile, fixed, broadband, and Internet Protocol (IP) networks. With a sales network that spans 130 nations, Nokia Corporation generated more than half of its sales in Europe, a quarter in the Americas, and about 22 percent in the Asia-Pacific region. Over the course of its more than 135 years in business, the company has evolved from a concentration in pulp, paper, and other basic industries to a focus on telecommunications.
In 1967 Nokia set up a division to develop design and manufacturing capabilities in data processing, industrial automation, and communications systems. Nokia also gained a strong position in modems and automatic banking systems in Scandinavia.
Principal Operating Units: Nokia Networks; Nokia Mobile Phones; Nokia Venture Organization; Nokia Research Center.
Principal Competitors: Alcatel; Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson; Harris Corporation; Kyocera Corporation; Lucent Technologies Inc.; Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., Ltd.; Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; Motorola, Inc.; NEC Corporation; Nortel Networks Corporation; Oki Electric Industry Company, Limited; Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.; Pioneer Corporation; Qualcomm Incorporated; Robert Bosch GmbH; Samsung Group; Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.; Siemens AG; Sony Corporation; Tellabs, Inc.; Toshiba Corporation.
