Nokia Updates its Famous Logo to Reflect a Strategic Shift

As the telecom equipment company concentrates on ambitious expansion, Nokia unveiled plans on Sunday to update its brand identity for the first time in over 60 years, complete with a new logo. The new logo comprises five distinct forms that create the word NOKIA. The original logo's characteristic blue colour has been replaced with various colours depending on the application.

"There was a link to cell phones, and now we are a commercial technology firm," said CEO Pekka Lundmark in an interview with Reuters.

He was addressing ahead of the company's business update on the eve of the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC), which begins Monday in Barcelona and goes through 2 March.

Lundmark devised a three-stage strategy

Following becoming CEO of the failing Finnish firm in 2020, Lundmark devised a three-stage strategy: reset, accelerate, and grow. Lundmark stated that the second step had begun after the reset stage.

Nokia continues to strive to expand

While Nokia continues to strive to expand its service provider business, in which it sells equipment to telecom providers, its primary focus is now on selling equipment to other enterprises.

"We achieved excellent 21% growth in enterprise last year, which is now around 8% of our revenues, (or) roughly 2 billion euros ($2.11 billion)," Lundmark added. "We want to go to double digits as soon as feasible."

Nokia to provide clients with private 5G networks

Large technology companies have partnered with telecom equipment suppliers such as Nokia to provide clients with private 5G networks and automated factory gear, particularly in the manufacturing industry. Nokia intends to assess the growth paths of its various companies and consider options, such as divestiture. Nokia's effort towards factory automation and data centres will pit them against huge IT businesses like Microsoft and Amazon. "There will be a variety of scenarios; sometimes they will be our partners, sometimes our customers... and I am sure there will be times when they will be competitors."

India is our fastest-growing market with lower margins

The telecom equipment business is under strain, with demand from high-margin countries such as North America being replaced by growth in low-margin India, prompting competitor Ericsson to lay off 8,500 staff. "India is our fastest growing market with lower margins - this is a fundamental change," Lundmark said, adding that Nokia anticipates a stronger second half of the year in North America.