Nokia Rebrands and Changes Logo for the First Time in almost 60 years to Distance Itself from Smartphones

Finnish telecoms giant Nokia has announced that it is rebranding, and for the first time in almost six decades, changing its logo. This move is part of a strategy to disassociate Nokia from smartphones, which it hasn’t made in around ten years. Nokia’s new corporate logo is made up of five different shapes to form the company’s name. The famous blue-colored lettering of old has been replaced in favor of a range of colors that change depending on the use.

Nokia, once the king of mobile phones, is now focusing on networks and industrial digitalization. Nokia hasn’t made smartphones since the Nokia Lumia 1020 in 2013, and the company wants to distance itself from that legacy. In most people’s minds, Nokia is still a successful mobile phone brand, but that’s not what Nokia is about today. The company wants to be known as a business technology company that focuses on networks and industrial digitalization, which is completely different from the legacy mobile phones.

The CEO of Nokia, Pekka Lundmark, said that the change in branding was necessary to remove the association to smartphones. “There was the association to smartphones, and nowadays we are a business technology company,” he said. Lundmark added that Nokia wants to launch a new brand focused on networks and industrial digitalization.

Nokia’s aim is to increase its market share when it comes to serving wireless service providers with network equipment. This should be easier now that Huawei is prohibited from selling its 5G networking gear to many countries. Nokia’s main focus will be selling equipment to private companies, an area that made up 8% of its revenue last year, or around 2 billion euros (roughly $2.11 billion). Lundmark said Nokia’s aim is to take that figure into double digits as quickly as possible.

Nokia’s move to rebrand and distance itself from smartphones is considered as a smart move at this period. The company needs to be known for something other than mobile phones, and its focus on networks and industrial digitalization is a good start. With the increasing demand for 5G networking gear and the recent prohibition of Huawei, Nokia has a great opportunity to increase its market share. It remains to be seen how successful Nokia will be in its new venture, but the company is taking the right steps in the right direction.