Nokia changes iconic logo to signal strategy shift

Nokia (NOKIA.HE) introduced plans on Sunday to vary its model identification for the primary time in almost 60 years, full with a brand new emblem, because the telecom tools maker focuses on aggressive progress.

The brand new emblem contains 5 totally different shapes forming the phrase NOKIA. The enduring blue color of the previous emblem has been dropped for a variety of colors relying on the use.

“There was the affiliation to smartphones and these days we’re a enterprise expertise firm,” Chief Government Pekka Lundmark advised Reuters in an interview.

He was talking forward of a enterprise replace by the corporate on the eve of the annual Cell World Congress (MWC) which opens in Barcelona on Monday and runs till March 2.

After taking excessive job on the struggling Finnish firm in 2020, Lundmark set out a technique with three levels: reset, speed up and scale. With the reset stage now full, Lundmark mentioned the second stage is starting.

Whereas Nokia nonetheless goals to develop its service supplier enterprise, the place it sells tools to telecom corporations, its foremost focus is now to promote gear to different companies.

“We had excellent 21% progress final 12 months in enterprise, which is presently about 8% of our gross sales, (or) 2 billion euros ($2.11 billion) roughly,” Lundmark mentioned. “We wish to take that to double digits as rapidly as attainable.”

Main expertise companies have been partnering with telecom gear makers equivalent to Nokia to promote non-public 5G networks and gears for automated factories to clients, principally within the manufacturing sector.

Nokia plans to assessment the expansion path of its totally different companies and contemplate alternate options, together with divestment.

“The sign may be very clear. We solely wish to be in companies the place we are able to see international management,” Lundmark mentioned.

Nokia’s transfer towards manufacturing unit automation and datacentres may also see them locking horns with large tech corporations, equivalent to Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Amazon (AMZN.O).

“There might be a number of several types of instances, typically they are going to be our companions … typically they are often our clients… and I’m certain that there may also be conditions the place they are going to be rivals.”

The market to promote telecom gear is below stress with macro atmosphere denting demand from high-margin markets equivalent to North America, being changed by progress in low-margin India, pushing rival Ericsson to lay off 8,500 staff.

“India is our quickest rising market that has decrease margins – it is a structural change,” Lundmark mentioned, including that Nokia expects North America to be stronger within the second half of the 12 months.

($1 = 0.9482 euros)