Nokia unveiled a new design for its logo at the start of MWC 2023, in an effort to remind good folks around the world that it is no longer a manufacturer of mobile phones. The fact of the matter is, the Finnish telecoms giant is still, to some measurable degree, a household name for said devices, despite the company having exited the mobile phone market close to a decade ago.
To be clear, Nokia-branded phones are still being sold and new models are still being made. Case in point, the new G22 that made its debut just a day before the event kicked off in Barcelona. But those devices were made and continue to be made by HMD Global Oy, another Finnish company that took over the license from Microsoft, after the latter called it quits on its own Windows Phones, back in 2014.
Kicking off #MWC23 with news. This is @Nokia but not as the world has seen us before.
Our new brand signals our ambition to harness the exponential potential of networks, drive digitalization across every industry https://t.co/flJpdmn0Ue. #NewNokia pic.twitter.com/x8asup3OtT— Pekka Lundmark (@PekkaLundmark) February 26, 2023
“In most people’s minds, we are still a successful mobile phone brand, but this is not what Nokia is about,” Pekka Lundmark, Chief Executive Officer, told Bloomberg in an interview ahead of the Mobile World Congress. “We want to launch a new brand that is focusing very much on the networks and industrial digitalization, which is a completely different thing from the legacy mobile phones.”
The new Nokia logo is significant in another way – it marks the first time in nearly 60 years since its last rebranding; originally a wood pulp mill, the brand’s logo originally featured a salmon head when it was first established back in 1865. The design of the logo that many of us have come to know and adore actually changed back in 1978.
Nokia was a powerhouse and leader in the mobile phone business, but its failure, by its own admission, to do nothing during the advent of the smartphone era that was spearheaded by the likes of Google and Apple, coupled with its failed attempt to become a major player in the Windows Phone market, led to its demise. Today, the company now makes its bones through the sale of networking equipment and the licensing of several of its patents, as well as aggressively protecting them.
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