Nokia's 1 Billion Euros meteoric plunge - What can technology gurus learn from it?
By sethslosberg
Nokia has been the leader in the cell phone industry. It has pioneered many technologies that have made cell phones more useful for us. We must admit that Nokia has always spearheaded the evolution in cell phone industry through innovation and research. However, there are times when business organizations become overconfident of their abilities. I remember telling my friends few years back that “Nokia was to cell phones as Toyota was to cars”. But now, it seems both are in trouble. Let us keep our focus on Nokia for this time now. Here is why I think Nokia hasn’t been able to come out of losses.
Overconfidence
I have often seen people around me (I am sure you must have seen them too) who went down owing to their overconfidence. I know this may sound absurd but there is an analogy that I want to draw. In old days people would say “Speed thrills but it kills”. We can now say the same about technology that “Overconfidence thrills but it kills”. If you have any doubts about that, you can think of the HP Touchpad episode, a heartbreaking wreck of a company that long had been admired for its brand and ability to offer innovative products to the market. Nokia, the king of cell phones (of the past), thought that whatever it thought was always right and their honeymoon period would never going to end. They were so, so wrong. Players like Apple and Google knew where to play their cards right. And we can now see how iOS and Android based phones are thriving. Therefore, Nokia, please sit down with your top executives and learn your lessons, before it is too late.
Late response
Technology is a complex and dynamic industry. And on top of that it is fast changing. How the hell can an industry player keep surviving in technology while sitting on its *** like an ugly duckling expecting things to happen the way they think. I am seriously offended at the thought of it that Nokia did not see it coming. Or instead, they thought it as a fad which won’t last forever. Whatever the reason behind, I seriously think, Nokia responded very late. They shot in their own foot. There were many other smart phone makers who responded late but they still were able to cover up because they soon realize WHO WAS RIGHT. Nokia has still time to cover up the mess and come back strong if they only know that things have changed quite a bit!
Faulty business model
Dear sweet Nokia, you must know what it means to survive the modern tech industry. You need to be quick on your feet. One thing that technology keeps on changing is the business models. Don’t we see how internet has changed and evolved, with spinoff of new and never-heard-of-business-models? Welcome to the new world Nokia. Google has smartly realized that open source is the next big thing. Perhaps, crowd sourcing may not be the right way to describe it. However, Nokia needs to realize that Android evolved with the evolving needs of its users. Unlike the old flop model of monopoly, things have changed altogether. Gone are the days when consumers were at the mercy of the monopolist who would do whatever it liked to. Don’t you see Nokia, Google is more focused on improving Android OS then introducing more smart phones of its own. So please, change your business model. And don’t try to follow Google. Start making your phones for Android. This is your strength. Do not try to compete with an OS that has been so much developed.
Wrong choice of partner
Well, the last thing that I want to say to Nokia is that, PLEASE WAKE UP! Do you think Windows is the best mobile operating system in the world? If you say YES! You are wrong for sure. Had it been the computer operating system, I would have loudly roared a YES too! But not in this case! Windows Phones are not the best in the world by any means. Don’t you see Blackberry hasn’t been able to put up a match against iOS and Android. Who came to the smart phone industry first, RIM or Google? Definitely, it was RIM who was there way before Google ever thought of entering this market.
Words of wisdom for Nokia!
It is never too late.
We are not always right.
Try to not only learn from your mistakes but also make the corrections.
Become partner with those companies that have already succeeded at something that you are trying to achieve. J
Comments
well, my article really did not look at the things the way you pointed out. My take was to only let nokia know where they can avoid mistakes to come up successful. Anyways, thanks for sharing your worthy opinion.
RAW Comment 3 months ago
My opinion about windows are the same. They could not develop even a 95% secure OS for PCs after so many years. How could you rely on windows for an operating system. All they do is a launch a new version which needs more computing resources than its predecessors. You never come to know why windows took so much pain to launch this new but more inefficient version which did nothing but made your old computer even slower. Same would happen with the mobiles. You would never know why your mobile was held during an important call. All you would do is to "restart" your mobile and try to call again. Suddenly, you would come to know your wife had "hacked" your mobile and all your "private" calls were recorded. She took those recordings to the court for a divorce. All we can do as a pre-emptive measure is to stay away from that nasty Nokia mobile phone.