Sim Book (CEO, Apple) :
Apple: Hello all, last time we had spoken about Nokia's rise to power and how much the global consumers loved it.
Kristian Pushola (CFO, Nokia) :
CFO: Yeah Sim, they still do. And yes, we had also spoken briefly about the history and development of Nokia as a brand through the years of experimentation.
Dr. Oh-No Lost (CEO, Samsung) :
Samsung: But then, post-2005, Nokia's growth seemed to have a downward trajectory. It stopped making great products. And although we might not be able to pinpoint the exact reason for the failures, it was disappointing to see a healthy competitor almost vanishing from the market.
Saudi Niinistö (President, Finland) :
President: You're right, Dr. Lost. As someone who has seen Nokia innovate from the ground up, let me say one thing: Nokia was and is a great company. In fact, it is a part of the Helsinki 25 Index.
Kristian Pushola (CFO, Nokia) :
CFO: And due to our sheer size, even small movements in Nokia stock prices had large impacts on the Finnish Equity Market. The Helsinki Stock Exchange changed its rules and capped the maximum weight for any stock at 10%, just to prevent Nokia from excessively impacting the index. Correct me, if am wrong?
Dr. Oh-No Lost (CEO, Samsung) :
Samsung: Yes, there is no doubt of the size and scale of Nokia. Although their production and sales have stopped, their research is still strong.
Sim Book (CEO, Apple) :
Apple: Truly! The flagship product line: the N95 was a case in point. It had all the makings of a modern smartphone, just the wrong type of human-machine interaction.
Saudi Niinistö (President, Finland) :
President: But Sim still, the series received a generally positive reception.
Kristian Pushola (CFO, Nokia) :
CFO: Thanks, Saudi. However, that was before the iPhone was launched. Suddenly the N95 didn't look so impressive anymore, and the very next year the game was about to change again. Then, came Android.
Saudi Niinistö (President, Finland) :
President: I agree, Kristian. But I don't think Nokia took the iPhone seriously enough. Your engineers scoffed at it just because it was more expensive to manufacture and performed poorly in 'drop tests'.
Dr. Oh-No Lost (CEO, Samsung) :
Samsung: The grave digging had started a long time before this period. Many of the products that Nokia launched were way ahead of its time. They launched smartphones with Qwerty keypads and applications in times when internet connectivity wasn't very common.
Sim Book (CEO, Apple) :
Apple: Even in terms of design, your attempts to ride the gaming wave were futile. While Xbox, PlayStation and Gameboy were becoming popular, you launched joystick-like phones. They were neither good for calling, not for gaming. A total nightmare for users.
Kristian Pushola (CFO, Nokia) :
CFO: I won't deny that, Sim. We were busy looking into the software. Our old Symbian OS wasn't good enough. We had two internal teams: one to improve Symbian, the other to come up with a new OS.
Dr. Oh-No Lost (CEO, Samsung) :
Samsung: Let me guess what happened: they both started competing against each other; for resources, ideas and attention from the top management.
Sim Book (CEO, Apple) :
Apple: Absolutely, Dr. Lost. Apple had a similar two-team problem while developing the OS for iPhone, but Steve was a tough boss who managed conflicts well. So we didn't feel the impact.
Kristian Pushola (CFO, Nokia) :
CFO: Unfortunately, it was a problem that plagued Nokia's R&D, operations. As the saying goes anything that's divided internally will never succeed.
Saudi Niinistö (President, Finland) :
President: Right, Kristian. Moreover, we must admit that Nokia was a little arrogant. It had assumed that it very well knows what the market wants and didn't respond fast enough to the users' changing tastes.
Dr. Oh-No Lost (CEO, Samsung) :
Samsung: Chipmaker Qualcomm has been heard saying that Nokia took a lot of time to think about responding to opportunities. By the time they responded, the opportunity was gone.
Kristian Pushola (CFO, Nokia) :
CFO: Um I think, the real problem was that Nokia's management just couldn't stand the huge multinational company quickly enough they seem to just keep throwing money at the problem instead of innovating through it with wisdom.
Sim Book (CEO, Apple) :
Apple: Also Kristian, Nokia was spending 5 billion dollars in research and development - that's 30% of the entire mobile industry's total, yet it remains far from launching a legitimate competitor to the iPhone.
Dr. Oh-No Lost (CEO, Samsung) :
Samsung: Sim is right, You could have moved to Android. Samsung did the same. It was an open-source software. Your designers could have created a brilliant OS out of it.
Sim Book (CEO, Apple) :
Apple: I am sorry but, it was really stupid of your Smartphones Division Head to dismiss the idea of even jumping over to Android as 'peeing in your pants for warmth'.
Kristian Pushola (CFO, Nokia) :
CFO: There was a change of management in 2006. But we became fixated on maintaining position rather than innovating. We had the 8-inch tablet prototype ready years before the iPad launched, but we weren't doing things with a sense of urgency.
Saudi Niinistö (President, Finland) :
President: That could be a good defence, Kristian. However In 2010, the CEO changed again. Stephen Elop had a background in Microsoft Ofice. Why would you get someone not related to smartphones in the first place?
Kristian Pushola (CFO, Nokia) :
CFO: Well Saudi, Elop had worked on a company which had been acquired by Adobe. He was effective. In fact, he personally flew around the world, terminating projects that weren't core priorities.
Dr. Oh-No Lost (CEO, Samsung) :
Samsung: Your organization structure didn't help much, either. You wanted to build a platform where outside programmers could write codes that run on every Nokia product. And instead of discussing this at a conference table…
Sim Book (CEO, Apple) :
Apple: You called 100+ engineers and managers from West America and East China in Germany for 3 days. They all were trying to be heard so that that could keep their jobs. Because they all had been competing to come up with the best smartphone. Sorry to cut in between, Dr. Lost.
Kristian Pushola (CFO, Nokia) :
CFO: You both are right, But. We did get Meego, a beautiful software from those discussions. And it ran pretty well on N9.
Sim Book (CEO, Apple) :
Apple: But Kristian, did it have the Apps that Play Store and App Store provided? No surprises when you shut off Meego in 2012.
Saudi Niinistö (President, Finland) :
President: Aah, 2012 was quite a year. Your new CEO signed a deal with Microsoft and promised to run all Nokia smartphones with a Windows OS. Even after launching many products and giving a 41 MP camera, Nokia fell behind.
Sim Book (CEO, Apple) :
Apple: I think the reason was again the same. They couldn't attract sufficient quality app developers.
Dr. Oh-No Lost (CEO, Samsung) :
Samsung: And the losses! Nokia reported a 115 million Euro loss for 1 quarter. Since 2011, you've suffered 4.1 billion Euro operating losses. It was a sinking ship. What would you say about that, Kristian?
Saudi Niinistö (President, Finland) :
President: Also during a television interview, Elop threw the interviewer's iPhone across the floor with a smile on his face. That was damage to goodwill. Serious damage.
Kristian Pushola (CFO, Nokia) :
CFO: Elop was a wolf in sheep's clothing. In 2013, he sold Nokia's smartphone division to Microsoft for $7.3 billion. Selling a 150-year company name for such a small amount. Even Snapchat was worth $19 billion!
Dr. Oh-No Lost (CEO, Samsung) :
Samsung: Yes, Elop went back to Microsoft as the Head of Devices. There have been reports that he earned 18.8 million Euros in bonus from Microsoft in that very year.
Sim Book (CEO, Apple) :
Apple: I think, there surely was a conflict of interest for Stephen Elop. He sold out his company, literally. It could have been Microsoft's plan all along, to send Elop to Nokia just to get into the smartphone industry.
Kristian Pushola (CFO, Nokia) :
CFO: We'll never know, Sim. In 2014, the Nokia brand was also let go. All phones were sold under Microsoft's name. Fortunately, we only had a 30-month term where Nokia can't use its name to sell phones.
Saudi Niinistö (President, Finland) :
President: And it has ended. Nokia is very soon coming up with many different phones. They will be Nokia, but not really Nokia. Fortunate or unfortunate, we will have to wait and watch.
Dr. Oh-No Lost (CEO, Samsung) :
Samsung: Saudi, What do you mean by that?
Kristian Pushola (CFO, Nokia) :
CFO: Well Dr. Lost, there are a few technical and legal complexities involved. We'll be happy to discuss it, but perhaps at a later time.
Sim Book (CEO, Apple) :
Apple: No worries. I think it is simply important to learn to swallow your pride and make positive changes, correct?
Kristian Pushola (CFO, Nokia) :
CFO: True Sim, but Nokia learnt it the hard way. And secondly, diligence is very important in all businesses.
Dr. Oh-No Lost (CEO, Samsung) :
Samsung: All this started from one man's vision. The important learning is to pursue your dream since you never know where it takes you.