Nokia, the telecom equipment maker, announced on Sunday that it plans to change its brand identity for the first time in almost 60 years in a bid to focus on aggressive growth.
As part of the new brand identity, Nokia will adopt a new logo that comprises five different shapes forming the word NOKIA, replacing its iconic blue color with a range of colors depending on the use.
Chief Executive Pekka Lundmark, who took over the top job at Nokia in 2020, explained that the company is rebranding itself to reflect its shift from a smartphone company to a business technology company. He also highlighted that Nokia has completed the reset stage of its strategy and is now moving into the second stage, accelerate and scale.
While Nokia still aims to grow its service provider business, where it sells equipment to telecom companies, its main focus is now on selling gear to other businesses. This change in focus comes as Nokia competes with rivals like Ericsson and Huawei, who have made similar moves to expand their businesses beyond the telecom sector.
Impact of new logo at Nokia
The announcement of the new brand identity and strategy comes ahead of the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, where Nokia is expected to provide a business update. Nokia’s move to rebrand itself and expand its focus to other industries reflects the company’s determination to remain competitive and relevant in a rapidly evolving market.
In a recent statement, Nokia’s CEO Pekka Lundmark reported that the company’s enterprise sector had experienced significant growth of 21% last year, reaching roughly €2 billion ($2.11 billion), which currently accounts for about 8% of Nokia’s total sales. Lundmark expressed the company’s intention to rapidly increase enterprise sales to double digits.
To boost its enterprise sales, Nokia is partnering with major technology firms to sell private 5G networks and automated factory gear to customers, primarily in the manufacturing sector. Nokia also plans to review its growth path across its various businesses and consider divestment options, focusing only on businesses in which it can achieve global leadership.
Nokia’s shift towards factory automation and data centers will bring it into competition with major tech companies such as Microsoft and Amazon. Lundmark acknowledged that there will be situations where they will be competitors, customers, or partners.
The telecom gear market has come under pressure due to the macro environment affecting high-margin markets such as North America, leading to a shift in demand towards lower-margin markets such as India. As a result, Nokia’s fastest-growing market is now India, while North America is expected to regain strength in the second half of the year.
Nokia is looking to consolidate its position in the enterprise sector and focus on its strengths to remain competitive in a challenging market.
