I guess you haven´t heard of NokiaLand
before? The naming NokiaLand has to do
with the worlds big-gest handset manufacturer
Nokia and Finland, the country it comes
from.
Nokia
Nokia has not always been a world leader
in cell phones, digital technologies,
telecommunications networks, wireless
data solutions and high tech gadgets like
the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. Some 100
years ago the company was manufacturing
paper, toilet paper, galoshes, tires and
raincoats.
Finland
Thanks to Nokia Finland has become one
of the fastest-growing and most prosperous
economies in Europe. And Nokia phones
have a dominant market position on its
home market. This is why Finland is sometimes
referred to as NokiaLand.
In the 1980s Finland was best known for
its paper and pulp industries and long
dark winters. At the same time Nokia made
the decision to shift its company focus
from timber, tires, and rubber boots to
mobile phones. Good move - today the company
sells more phones than any other company
in the world.
The Nokia success story had an enormous
impact on the finnish economy. Nokia increased
the finnish GDP by more than 1.5 percent
in 1999 alone. In 2004 Nokia's share of
the Finnish GDP was 3.5 percent and accounted
for almost a quarter of Finnish exports
in 2003. Last year more than 20 000 people
were employed by Nokia in Finland which
is roughly 2 percent of the people in
the Finnish business sector. Also several
tiny companies such as Perlos have grown
into large ones as Nokia subcontractors.
As Nokia´s profits grew, the Nokia share
price increased and this also created
a large number of new very rich households
in NokiaLand - thanks to Nokia.
The President
Believe it or not there was a secret
plan some 5 years ago in NokiaLand to
put Jorma Ollila, CEO of Nokia as president
of Finland. This did not work out, but
if it had we surely would have had our
NokiaLand. The story was revealed when
Sauli Niinistö published his memoirs this
summer. He writes that he had asked Jorma
Ollila, the chief executive of Nokia,
to run for president in the 2000 presidential
election. According to Mr Niinistö, Mr
Ollila pondered over the matter when Niinistö
made him the offer in the spring of 1999.
As we all know Mr Ollila didn´t go for
it!
This article was posted on December
13, 2005
