A couple of years ago, Microsoft reached a deal to acquire Nokia's struggling devices and services business, and just recently, the Finnish company sold its HERE mapping unit to a group of German car-makers. It's true that Nokia had terrible last five years, but this doesn't take away the fact that it was this very company that effectively defined the mobile industry for over a decade prior, and gave us some of the most memorable phones. In this article, we take a trip down memory lane to revisit Nokia's history, which - hold your breath - spans a whopping 150 years. Humble beginnings While Nokia may remind most of us of only mobile phones, the company in fact started out as a paper mill, which was established in 1865 by mining engineer Fredrik Idestam at the Tammerkoski Rapids in south-western Finland. However, the name Nokia wasn't yet born. It was the location of his second mill - on the banks of the Nokianvirta river - that inspired Idestam to name his company Nokia Ab, something which happened in 1871. After around three decades, the company also ventured into electricity generation. Meanwhile, Eduard Polón founded Finnish Rubber Works in 1898, and Arvid Wickström established Finnish Cable Works in 1912. In 1918, Finnish Rubber Works acquired Nokia to secure access to the latter's hydro-power resources, and in 1922, Finnish Cable Works was also acquired by the newly formed conglomerate. While the three companies were jointly owned, they continued to work independently until 1967, when they were finally merged and Nokia Corporation was born. The newly formed company mainly focused on four markets: paper, electronics, rubber, and cable. It developed things like toilet paper, bicycle and car tires, rubber footwear, TVs, communication cables, robotics, PCs, and military equipment, among others. Portfolio expansion In 1979, Nokia entered into a joint venture with leading Scandinavian color TV manufacturer Salora to create Mobira Oy, a radio telephone company. A few years later, Nokia launched the world's first international cellular system dubbed Nordic Mobile Telephone network, which linked Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland. This was followed by the launch of the company's as well as world's first car-phone dubbed Mobira Senator, which weighed in at around 10 kg. In 1984, Nokia acquired Salora and changed the name of its telecommunications unit to Nokia-Mobira Oy. The year also marked the launch of Mobira Talkman, which was advertised as one of the first transportable phones. This means it could be used both in and out of car, although it was still around 5kg. Three years later, the company introduced its first compact phone called Mobira Cityman 900, which was also the world's first hand-held mobile telephone. Despite weighing around 800g and carrying a price tag of around $5,456, it sold like hot cakes. The phone became iconic and was nicknamed "The Gorba" after the then Soviet Union president Mikhail Gorbachev used it to to make a call from Helsinki to Moscow during a press conference in October 1987. The following year brought a tough phase for the company as it witnessed sharp drop in profits owing to severe price competition in the consumer electronics markets, and its chairman Kari Kairamo committed suicide reportedly due to stress. The new leadership brought changes, dividing the company into six units: telecommunications, consumer electronics, cables and machinery, data, mobile phones, and basic industries, while divesting other units like flooring, paper, rubber, and ventilation systems. In 1989, Nokia-Mobira Oy became Nokia Mobile Phones. Change in focus - mobile phones In 1990's, Nokia's top leadership decided to focus solely on the telecommunications market, and as a result, the company's data, power, television, tire, and cable units were sold off in the first few years of the decade. In 1991, world's first GSM call was made by the then Finnish prime minister, Harri Holkeri. Unsurprisingly, it was made using Nokia equipment. The next year, the company's first hand-held GSM phone Nokia 1011 was launched. The device reportedly had a talk time of 90 minutes and could store 99 contact numbers. It was also known as Mobira Cityman 2000. A couple of years later, the company launched its 2100 series of phones, which were also...
Source: http://www.gsmarena.com/the_rise_dominance_and_epic_fall__a_brief_look_at_nokias_history-news-13460.php
