For years, Nokia didn’t just compete in mobile phones — it defined the category. From the iconic 3310 to the best-selling Nokia 1100, the Finnish company built a global empire on durable devices, mass-market appeal and an unmatched ability to scale. At its peak, Nokia was Europe’s most valuable company and one of the most dominant consumer tech brands in the world. But the smartphone era changed where value in the industry was created.
For years, Nokia didn’t just compete in mobile phones — it defined the category. From the iconic 3310 to the best-selling Nokia 1100, the Finnish company built a global empire on durable devices, mass-market appeal and an unmatched ability to scale.
At its peak, Nokia was Europe’s most valuable company and one of the most dominant consumer tech brands in the world. But the smartphone era changed where value in the industry was created.
As Apple and Google built software ecosystems around apps and developers, Nokia remained focused on hardware, manufacturing and product scale — a strategic misread that ultimately brought its dominance in mobile phones to an end.
Watch the video above to learn why Nokia missed the smartphone shift — and how that failure forced the company to rethink its future.
This is the second installment in CNBC’s “Built for Billions” three-part series on Nokia. Don’t miss part one, where we explore how Nokia makes money today, and part three, which looks at the company’s next big bet on AI-driven networks and the future of global connectivity.
