Hamed Wardak, Entrepreneur

The evolution of the mobile device market has come in leaps and bounds, rather than a smooth product development trend. Because of this, leaders in the market segment have been able to pass former top brands, pushing them into consistent also-ran status. The beauty of this volatility, though, is that brands had a legitimate chance to move up and pull even… if they could debut the Next Big Thing on mobile.

The window for that kind of move may be closing. At this point, nearly everyone is certain the Next Big Thing in mobile will be 5G. Dubbed the better, faster, “quantum leap” in mobile connectedness, 5G is being slowly developed across global markets, as telecom providers and device manufacturers jockey for position in the marketplace that will soon realize a tectonic shift.

Last week, the spotlight was on Nokia, as the Finnish company took another step toward trying to find an answer to its continued slump. Once a top performer in the mobile device space, Nokia has been eclipsed by once-upstart Apple and electronics giant Samsung. Both brands have multiple devices that remain intensely popular with consumers globally - and those brands continue to rise.

The step Nokia took in trying to keep pace? Announcing the resignation of CEO Rajeev Suri, who has been at the helm of the company for the past six years, a span in which both Apple and Samsung have made major leaps in mobile device technology. Suri’s successor will be Pekka Lundmark, former president and CEO of Fortum, a Finnish energy firm. 

Some have tried to argue that Nokia was already moving in the right direction, and that 5G is a “tomorrow” question, adding that Nokia remains one of the world’s top telecom product vendors, along with Ericsson and Huawei. Others are less charitable, saying that Nokia’s failure to take advantage of its competitors’ issues in Europe and the United States telegraphs a brand that’s not ready to adapt to the imminent shift in mobile tech.

The latter argument seemed to gain steam as investors were told Nokia’s share price has fallen 46 percent in the past year, and the October announcement that dividend cash would be suspended in place of reinvesting in 5G did not assuage those worries.

Despite these on-the-surface negatives, Nokia has a messaging opportunity here. If the new leadership team can establish and communicate a clear plan to take advantage of the new opportunities coming with 5G, then implement that plan in an effective way, they can turn things around relatively quickly, and put Nokia in a position to regain past reputation and position.