As we hurtle toward a new year, old-guard technology companies are trying to refashion themselves for 2016.
One case in point is Nokia, once the dominant maker of mobile phones, which fell into irrelevance when smartphones like Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy devices came into vogue. Nokia eventually sold its handset business to Microsoft and separately auctioned off its mapping technology unit.
Now Nokia has taken its remaining assets in telecom gear and is remaking itself through a $16.6 billion takeover of a onetime rival, Alcatel-Lucent, which shareholders will vote on this week, writes Mark Scott. Even so, it’s a gamble to retrench in making telecom equipment, a sector that is highly dependent on the spending of large telecom companies and where competition is stiff against the likes of Cisco. Investors and others will be watching closely to see if Nokia can pull off a turnaround.
Nokia’s situation, which is applicable to other onetime behemoth tech companies, is a reminder of how fickle and fast-moving the tech world can be. In the waning days of 2015, it’s up to the old guard to keep up.