Nokia + Microsot Good or Bad for Finland ?

[jmakinen]

http://blogs.ft.com/fttechhub/2011/02/n ... ftcamp=rss

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/87a050ce-360f ... z1DlSUdAOn

[AldenG]

http://blogs.ft.com/fttechhub/2011/02/n ... ftcamp=rss

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/87a050ce-360f ... z1DlSUdAOn

Best take-home line: “two turkeys don’t make an eagle.” But are they really turkeys, that's the core question.

I have a feeling the really Nokia-esque thing to do would be to move beyond mobile to a new industry like next-generation light and power. That's basically what Kairamo did. I don't see Elop doing anything like that.

[maxxfi]

I have a feeling the really Nokia-esque thing to do would be to move beyond mobile to a new industry like next-generation light and power. That's basically what Kairamo did. I don't see Elop doing anything like that.

I agree. Unfortunately in nowadays Nokia boards are sitting too many North American investors that
just wants profit here and now, definitely no space for the '6 steps' long-term research plan as old Maemo was,
and IMHO Elop has been simply appointed to serve them (even more than his previous employer).
So, I'm afraid there is not much space left for Finnish ingenuity to reinvent themselves, at least inside the company.

[Pursuivant]

Its all because Elop couldn't face seeing his fellow managers naked.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/colu ... -heat.html

[fatherchristmas]

This is very bad news. It will send ripples through the entire economy. It was a coup d'état by Microsoft and their trojan horse CEO in a sense.

For the first time since moving here, I'm starting to consider that I may have to move my family again. Quite a few of my friends and a family member will be losing their jobs at Nokia soon. Some who work for companies that do Nokia's outsourced work are also under threat. It's truly the end of an era. Friday was a very sad day. Some have even said 2/11 is Finland's 9/11

[Karhunkoski]

Its all because Elop couldn't face seeing his fellow managers naked.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/colu ... -heat.html

And most people agree that Matthew Norman is an ill-informed cock.

[Bubba Elvis XIV]

Some have even said 2/11 is Finland's 9/11

[flyingyellowpig]

R&D budget is supposed to get cut per slide shown during PR talk by Elop. If Nokia can do serious work changing & improving the OS and still keep their recognized place as a good hardware company, then maybe this works for Nokia. Finland just lost a lot of programming jobs at one of its larger home grown companies, I don't see how Finland gets anything good out of this at all.

... If they can change or improve, sorry but those Finnish engineers at Nokia aren't good on anything. Look at Symbian as an example.
How can 8.000 people working for Nokia can't create or bring any innovative product for so long ? What was the last innovative product done by Nokia ? Sorry but I can't remember.
I am happy to what it happened to Nokia, that what it happens if you are too slow to change and not open mind.
I use Android and I am I am happy with it, but when I can get my hands on the HP Pre 3 .
I think Nokia should have move to WebOS which is more robust and bugs free.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/09/the-hp-pre-3/

[Tiwaz]

It has nothing to do with engineers.

Nokia had concept for phone with touchscreen before anyone else, it was management who thought it would not work out. Thus, innovativeness was there. But management was thinking too much in quarterly basis I would guess. If it required long term investment, then it was delayed (too much).

Besides, innovativeness is not everything. Look at Apple. Innovative? Only in marketing field and pricing. Apple products are generally generation or few behind competitors, at prices which are seriously bloated. But they have innovative marketing which makes selling old s**t great business. And their own little apps store which is pretty much only new technological innovation they have made.

[jmakinen]

Nokia had concept for phone with touchscreen before anyone else, it was management who thought it would not work out. Thus, innovativeness was there. But management was thinking too much in quarterly basis I would guess. If it required long term investment, then it was delayed (too much).

Touchscreen can't really have been that much ahead of anyone else - it's just too logical a method for input - so others wd hv bn there anyhow plus or minus months - and certainly not patentable.

I rather think there are surely other reasons. It's occurred to me that Finns are world-famous for having a culture which is one of the worst for communications (surely you know the story of the two Häme farmers and the sick horses and turpentine)- So I wonder if some phone software has been the victim of 'wanna be alone' and 'don't ask me' Finnish sw writers not taking full advantage of possible phone technology.

And of course a myriad of other explanations

Besides, innovativeness is not everything. Look at Apple. Innovative? Only in marketing field and pricing. Apple products are generally generation or few behind competitors, at prices which are seriously bloated. But they have innovative marketing which makes selling old s**t great business.

Apple had the really first 'PC' in early 80's- They've been well ahead of the curve on graphics apps, ease of use, etc. I've never been able to join the snob group that owns them but I do respect that their success has been based on real things and not just hype (though profit margins do benefit from the snob effect)

[Suitsuke]

Tbh Nokia needs to do everything it can to stay in business... they are miles behind other smartphone competitors like Samsung.. not that I have anything against Nokia it's just that their phones are overpriced for lacking in so many features that other even cheaper phones have... they may have created the mobile phone but that wont stop them from charging too much for far too little... honestly I'm surprised they got this far without going bankrupt.

Hopefully this partnership will kick-start something positive for them. God only knows they need it.

[Jukka Aho]

There was an interesting article back in the October 2010 issue of Kuukausiliite, the monthly supplement of Helsingin Sanomat, titled Mokia (“Blunders”), where they interviewed 15 former Nokians about the issues in the organization and management. Unfortunately, the original story is not available for free viewing at this moment but there are a couple of articles in other media briefly covering the key points:

• 15 entistä nokialaista arvostelee Kallasvuota ja Ollilaa – HS:n Kuukausiliite penkoi Nokian 2000-luvun vaiheita (Tietokone)
• Matriisi murskasi mahtavan Nokian (Talouselämä)

[Upphew]

it's just that their phones are overpriced for lacking in so many features that other even cheaper phones have... they may have created the mobile phone but that wont stop them from charging too much for far too little...

Ex Nokia user here...
What made me ex was: resistive vs. capacitive touch screen, stability issues, design, sw architecture (I don't like Symbian), Applelike Ovi store
What is missing from my phone, and I very much like to hear how I can accomplish these: automatic call recording, navigation out of the box/no extra cost, moving contacts/smss from old phone to new (ok, this I did by writing the contacts by hand from the old phone).

[jmakinen]

Many are writing and saying that what's the big deal - N is just buying something from MS.

It goes FAR deeper than that because the deal is now opening the door to all the weaknesses of both companies. The Google guy put it pretty succinctly with the 2 turkeys crack.

But the situation is far more serious for Finland - I wonder what the whole Nokia-related infrastructure is in Finland. Leaving paper and wood aside + I wouldn't be surprised if 25% of the Finnish economy wasn't N-linked.

It really makes me think of SE Michigan as referenced to autos. That area would have been hit even harder was in not for diversification they started a generation ago.

[flyingyellowpig]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/ ... DG20110211

* Nokia teams up with Microsoft on smartphones

* Nokia to use Windows Phone as software platform

* Nokia to use Microsoft's Bing search on devices

* Says 2011-2012 to be transition years

(Adds details throughout, analyst quote)

By Tarmo Virki

LONDON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Nokia (NOK1V.HE) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) have teamed up to take on Google and Apple in the fast-growing smartphone market as the Finnish cellphone maker attempts to regain its leading position in the sector.

Nokia said on Friday it would use Windows Phone as the software platform for its smartphones as part of new chief executive Stephen Elop's overhaul of the world's biggest cellphone maker.

Microsoft's Windows Phone platform is widely recognised by industry experts as a leading edge technology but has not yet gained success among consumers.

"This is a partnership born out of both parties' fear of marginalisation at the hands of Apple and Google but there is no silver bullet," said analyst Geoff Blaber from CCS Insight.

In here are also a interesting post : Nokia: The Destruction of a Great Company. Step One http://www.mobile-review.com/articles/2 ... t-en.shtml