Nokia, once a dominant player in the mobile phone market, struggled to adapt as smartphones became more popular and ultimately lost market share to competitors such as Apple and Samsung.
We can learn much from the cascading business failures that resulted in Nokia’s eventual downfall.
Despite its former dominance in the mobile phone market, Nokia’s failure serves as a reminder of the importance of staying ahead of industry trends and continuing to innovate in order to remain competitive.
It was October 1998, and Nokia was the industry leader in mobile phone sales all over the world. Since the early days of the mobile phone industry, Nokia had been synonymous with success and quality products. The phones were available worldwide, covering low-end to high-end prices.
By 1999, the company’s profit had reached $4 billion. It seemed that they could do no wrong. Even in June 2007, when Apple introduced the first iPhone, Nokia still owned 50% of the market. For a long time, its young leadership led the company to success.
But in 2010, things took a turn for the worse… It took only six years for Nokia to lose around 90% of its market value, and the company never recovered. Critical mistakes led to the mobile phone giant’s fall from grace.
Nokia’s history only serves to prove that no company is infallible, especially in the face of technological progress.
What were some of their critical mistakes?
Cocky leadership, a lack of vision, and inferior technology were the unholy trinity of errors that contributed to Nokia’s downfall. Here’s what you can learn from their biggest mistakes and errors in judgment.
1. Always Account for What Your Customers Want.
Even being an industry leader doesn’t guarantee success, as Nokia’s downfall shows. It’s important to continuously innovate and adapt to stay ahead of the competition.
Nokia failed to adapt to change and reposition itself in the market. After Apple introduced its game-changing smartphone, consumers saw what the future of the industry could provide. They understood the long-term benefits of developing mobile technology better than Nokia did.
So, here’s one of the first lessons from Nokia that you should learn: never rely solely on your brand’s reputation to retain customers and acquire new ones.
Nokia repeatedly failed by relying on the same inferior technology, despite customer demands… All because it knew that most target audiences still felt very positive towards the manufacturer.
Being an industry leader will only get you so far. Once the demand for your product goes away, your reputation will change for the worse if you don’t adapt quickly.
Demand generation is a hot topic among marketers today. But many people believe that demand geeneation and lead generation are somehow the same thing.
Read more about the difference between the two concepts here in our related piece, “Demand Generation vs. Lead Generation: What’s the Difference?”
2. Marketing is as Important as Your Product.
A strong product alone is not enough to ensure success, as Nokia learned. A solid marketing strategy is just as crucial to reaching and engaging customers.
Nokia never had a strong marketing strategy in the smartphone industry, at least not like its competitors did.
What did Apple and Samsung do? Each year they announced their new smartphone version – with improved features. This marketing strategy was all about creating anticipation and generating excitement. It kept people interested.
Another lesson to take away from the Nokia disaster is that marketing is as important as the product itself. Create a flagship product, but don’t forget to market it accordingly.
Even if you only make small improvements to your product over time, strategic marketing can still generate excitement for minor upgrades too.
3. Ensure All of Your Departments Work in Alignment.
In a business context, it means that different departments, subsidiaries, or divisions within a company can work together in a coordinated way to achieve more than they would be able to individually. Companies that can create and maintain a culture of synergy can improve their competitiveness, productivity, and profitability.
Once the competition in the industry got fiercer, Nokia began to crumble from the inside. Different departments in the company stopped coordinating and began competing.
So, where did Nokia go wrong?
It failed in its organizational structure and interdepartmental communication. Insufficient coordination among departments often leads to a variety of operational issues. In Nokia’s case, it led to many delays in the development of their OS.
Why is this important to you?
Because departments that are out of sync fall behind in their delivery of products, research, upgrades, and more. This leads to the company losing out to its competitors and contributes to a rapid loss of market value.
4. Don’t Foster a “Shoot the Messenger” Culture.
The failure of Nokia serves as a reminder that a corporate culture of listening and learning is crucial for staying ahead of the curve. Companies must be open to feedback and willing to adapt to changing market conditions in order to remain competitive
The Nokia leadership that once brought success couldn’t adapt to the new trends. By most accounts, the top managers created a dictatorial, rather than an innovative, culture.
When times get tough, you have to adapt… But before you do that, you need to learn how to change. Always embrace new ideas from employees and nurture a culture of listening and learning.
Remember that the company culture doesn’t grow from the bottom up. It’s the other way around. Leaders should establish clear company culture values and lead by example.
Empower your employees and encourage collaboration and innovation. It’s critical in establishing a strong foundation and culture, both of which are building blocks of a strong business.
5. Manage Your Company’s Resources.
Nokia’s downfall serves as a reminder that the market is always changing and companies must be constantly assessing their position and exploring new opportunities for growth. A failure to pivot in response to shifting market conditions can lead to a loss of market share and ultimately, failure
The lack of innovation at Nokia didn’t come solely from bad leadership decisions and out-of-sync departments. The cellphone maker had experienced massive, rapid growth. In fact, the business model targeted financial growth and not innovation.
Therefore, when it needed to change, the company didn’t have the resources to sustain innovation. Nokia didn’t have a vision for the future. Everything was about short-term gains, and nothing prepared the company for competing in a new field.
You can avoid this by managing your resources wisely. Assess your market position often and explore new directions you could pivot to.
Even if you don’t make a dramatic shift, it’s still good to know what your options are… And how much you might have to set aside to compete on a different playing field.
6. Focus on Hiring the Most Qualified People.
The success of a company is not only dependent on the products or services it offers, but also on the people behind it. A great hiring process that focuses on bringing in individuals who can solve existing problems and empowers them to take action is crucial to solidifying a company’s position in the market.
Another aspect of Nokia’s failing was not having the right people in the right places. Its top management lacked the technical ability to compete in the new market, and middle management didn’t have the motivation to make specific issues known.
A company culture based on open communication can solve some of these problems, but it’s not enough for ideas to reach the ears of upper management. Management needs to understand those ideas, too.
To solidify your company, you need a great hiring process. Focus on people who can solve existing problems, and place them in positions with the power to do something about those problems.
Conclusion
The downfall of Nokia serves as a reminder that a long string of bad decisions can lead to failure, even for a once successful company. But looking back, none of the company’s mistakes were unavoidable. A strong focus on data-driven decision making, thorough analysis and a holistic approach to assessing risks and opportunities can help a company avoid similar pitfalls.
A long string of bad decisions led to Nokia’s downfall, but looking back, none of the company’s mistakes were unavoidable. There are many lessons you can learn from the fall of the technology giant to ensure your business will succeed.
