Nokia is a world leader in mobile communications. We believe that it is our experience and innovation, combined with the user-friendliness, reliability and quality of our products and solutions that have made Nokia the world's leading supplier of mobile phones and a leading provider of mobile and IP networks.

We attribute much of our success to our unique corporate culture, which emphasizes and values product innovation, customer satisfaction and employees motivated by high levels of trust, independence and opportunities for personal and professional enrichment.

Nokia comprises two business groups: Nokia Mobile Phones and Nokia Networks. In addition, the company includes a separate Nokia Ventures Organization and the corporate research unit, Nokia Research Centre.

Nokia Mobile Phones is the world's largest mobile phone producer. With our comprehensive product portfolio covering all consumer segments and cellular protocols, Nokia is in a strong position to lead industry development, based on our vision of a world where an increasing share of all personal communication occurs over personal wireless terminals such as mobile phones. As the functionality of mobile phones moves from voice-centric to include media, imaging, entertainment and business applications, completely new markets are being created and the growth opportunities are enormous.

Nokia Networks is a leading provider of mobile and IP network infrastructure and related services. We aim to be a leader in IP mobility core, radio and broadband access for network operators and service providers. Nokia Networks also seeks to enable mobile multimedia and Internet applications, to achieve sustainable high value-added business with network operators and service providers and to become a preferred partner for major operators.

Nokia Ventures Organization exists to identify and develop new business ideas outside Nokia's current focus and to contribute to the growth and renewal of our existing core businesses. The division includes two established businesses: Nokia Internet Communications, which provides world-class IP security and virtual private network (VPN), solutions for corporate enterprise and managed service provider networks, and Nokia Home Communications, which designs and manufactures digital communications solutions for the home environment.

Nokia Research Center drives Nokia's technological competitiveness and renewal in technology areas vital for the company's future success. Interacting closely with all Nokia business units, the research center supports Nokia's evolving core businesses by developing new concepts, technologies and applications. Focusing beyond current product development, the research center aggressively develops disruptive technologies and acts as an incubator for new technology-oriented ventures with clear business insight.

Our Vision

"As the market moves further into a new phase of advanced features and services, we see Nokia at the forefront in terms of brand, product offering and operational excellence."
Jorma Ollila, Chairman and CEO

A Diverse History

During our 138-year history, Nokia evolved from a papermaking company to a conglomerate manufacturing diverse products such as rubber boots, consumer electronics and cable machinery, before becoming the world's leading mobile communications company.

Our decision in the early 1990s to concentrate on mobile telecommunications was followed by the divestment of all our basic industry and non-telecommunications operations. We subsequently gained a leading presence in every major market, achieving the leading overall market share in mobile phones in 1998. Now, more than one in three mobile phones sold globally is a Nokia phone.

Over the last decade, mobile communications has gained rapidly in popularity and the number of subscribers has grown dramatically to more than one billion, representing 100-fold growth. Now, as the functionality of mobile devices extends from voice to imaging, games, entertainment and business applications, we are again entering a new growth period.

Opening up the way

In this new era of opportunity, industry players have been taking significant steps towards greater cooperation and standardization. Leading mobile network operators, device and network suppliers, IT companies and content providers are all working together to deliver open standards for the mobile industry. This is helping create interoperable services, which work across countries, operators and mobile devices.

The open standards approach is the only way to ensure high-quality affordable products and services while bringing personal freedom of choice.

Strategy and Strengths

Nokia's overall business objective is to strengthen our global position by responding to new opportunities in mobile communications in a profitable way. This means building on our strong brand, expanding our customer base and securing quality - all elements for growing our future business potential.

In mobile phones, we will continue to launch products with new features and functionality while working to develop entirely new categories of devices. Applications such as multimedia messaging, content access and downloading, and mobile browsing are also being introduced across the range of our products. In our networks business, we intend to develop and commercialize the high-speed, high-capacity systems required to deliver emerging mobile applications and services.

The core business strengths that differentiate Nokia from our competition are:

Brand as an asset: Our leading brand brings customer loyalty, greater market access and economies of scale. It also allows us to attract and retain the best suppliers and employees, contributing to productivity, quality and innovation.

Strong product offering: Our product portfolio includes new functional categories of mobile devices, such as enhanced communicators and entertainment, media and imaging devices.

Advanced technology: Nokia is a frontrunner in developing leading technologies, with more than one third of our workforce employed in the area of research and development and about 10% of net sales invested annually into research and development.

Excellence in execution: Our experience and skill in managing our demand-supply chain means delivering new ideas and technologies in product form at the right time, and in the right volumes to meet demand.

Culture and values: We see our strong values-based culture as a core competence, fundamental to our continuing success in a rapidly evolving industry.

Editor: Donald