Nokia Gets New Logo to Tell Us They Don’t Make Phones
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The Finnish telecoms company Nokia has redesigned its logo. It wants the world to know that the company doesn’t make mobile phones anymore.
Pekka Lundmark, the CEO of Nokia, says that most people still think of the company as “a successful mobile phone brand.” He says the company has changed and it wants to focus on digitalization for large companies.
Nokia shared its new logo on Sunday at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain. It is the first major redesign of the company’s logo in about 60 years.
The company has changed a lot since it was founded. In 1865, Nokia started as a paper mill and its original logo was the head of a salmon fish.
Nokia was once the market leader of the mobile phone industry but did not adapt quickly when Apple and Google started to make smartphones. In 2014, Nokia sold its mobile phone business to Microsoft.
By 2016, Microsoft lost more than $8 billion on its acquisition of Nokia. That year, it started to slowly close down its smartphone business because it was not able to compete with Apple and Google.
Microsoft then sold the Nokia mobile brand to another company, HMD Global. HMD Global started to make Nokia phones again, but with Android, Google’s operating system.
HMD says that it can still use Nokia’s original logo. HMD isn’t affected by Nokia’s rebranding.
Now, Nokia’s business focuses on networking equipment, licensing its technology, and 5G equipment.
Vocabulary21 words
- Finnish
- From Finland; of or related to Finland;
- Telecoms
- telecommunication; communication by phone, radio, etc., and the business connected with it; the exchange of information over long distances by electronic means
- Redesign
- design again in a different way; to make changes
- Logo
- a symbol or image that represents/stands for a company, organization or team
- CEO (Chief Executive officer)
- the top person in a large company; president; boss
- Brand
- the name of a company and its image; one product with a specific name made by one company, e.g., Sprite is one of Coca-Cola’s brands
- Digitalization
- the process of using technology to change information or activities from physical (analog) form to digital form
- Share
- to tell someone or people about something; to make public; to announce
- Founded
- started; began; created
- Paper mill
- a factory where paper is made from wood or other materials
- Original
- the first one made and not a copy; the origin or beginning;
- Market leader
- a company or brand that has the highest sales in an industry or market
- Industry
- business field; area of work or business; type of business
- Adapt
- to change or modify something to suit/fit a new situation or purpose
- Acquisition
- when one company buys or takes over another company
- Close down
- to stop operating or doing business; to shut down
- Compete
- to try to be better than other businesses or people in a particular activity or market
- Operating system
- the main software that manages and controls the basic functions of a computer or other smartphone; e.g., iOS, Android, Windows
- Rebrand
- to change the name, design, or image of a product or company to make it more attractive
- Focus on
- to give most of your attention to someone or something
- Licensing
- to give permission or let someone use your intellectual property (such as a trademark, patent, software, special technology) in exchange for payment
Discussion questions
- What do you think of Nokia's decision to redesign its logo and shift its focus away from mobile phones? Is it a smart move to focus on digitalization for large companies?
- How important do you think it is for companies to adapt quickly to changes in their industry like Nokia failed to do with the rise of smartphones?
- What is your opinion on HMD Global's use of Nokia's original logo, even though Nokia has rebranded?
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