GLOBAL – It’s been a milestone year in Nokia’s evolution with CEO and President, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, announcing a fresh direction for Nokia that has already seen it beginning to move from being a handset company to an Internet services company.
It was only back in May 2008 when OPK set the scene with his speech at the 2008 Nokia Annual General meeting, saying:
“Companies such as Apple, Google and Microsoft are not our traditional competitors, but they are major forces that must be reckoned with… our goal is to act less like a traditional manufacturer, and more like an Internet company”
This vision triggered welcome widespread reaction and rapidly began to crystalize with the push on GPS devices (along with the acquisition of NAVTEQ). Faster mobile internet speeds and the emergence of innovative new Nokia apps and services such as Nokia Maps (3.0) with Maps on Ovi also helped. Plus, we were met with a full range of over-the-air photo, file and video sharing services on Ovi, and apps such as LifeVine, Nokia Chat, Friend View cemented this new Nokia path.
What’s most exciting is that this is only the very beginning and we’ve barely even scratched the surface in terms of the full potential of Nokia’s fresh focus on Internet services.
It’s a bold new direction and definitely deserves a top slot in our Best of 2008 list.