“We are urgently seeking clarification on the reasons for this decision and have taken legal action.” In October 2009, Nokia filed a lawsuit against Apple Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, alleging that Apple had infringed 10 of its patents related to wireless communications, including data transmission. [254] Apple responded quickly with a counterclaim filed in December 2009 accusing Nokia 11 of patent infringement. Bruce Sewell, Apple`s general counsel, went further, saying, “Other companies need to compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just stealing ours. This led to a legal battle between the two telecom companies, with Nokia filing another complaint, this time with the US International Trade Commission (ITC), alleging that Apple had infringed its patents in “virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players and computers”. [255] Nokia then asked the court to prohibit all U.S. imports of Apple`s products, including the iPhone, Macintosh and iPod. Apple retaliated by filing a complaint with the ITC in January 2010. [254] STOCKHOLM, P. 31. MARCH (Reuters) – Finnish network equipment maker Nokia (NOKIA.HE) said on Thursday it had launched a legal challenge against a Romanian government decision to ban it from selling 5G technology in the country. Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) is a provider of turnkey subsea network solutions.
The division develops technologies and provides installation services for submarine optical cable connections in the world`s oceans. [217] [218] In 1998 alone, the company generated sales of $20 billion and profits of $2.6 billion. In 2000, Nokia employed more than 55,000 people,[51] and held a 30% market share in the mobile phone market, nearly twice the size of its closest competitor, Motorola. [52] The company was active in 140 countries in 1999. It was reported at the time that some people believed that Nokia was a Japanese company. [53] Between 1996 and 2001, Nokia`s turnover increased fivefold, from €6.5 billion to €31 billion. [54] On April 14, 2015, Nokia confirmed that it was in discussions with French telecommunications equipment supplier Alcatel-Lucent regarding a possible merger. [149] The next day, Nokia announced that it had agreed to buy Alcatel-Lucent for €15.6 billion in an all-stock transaction. [150] CEO Rajeev Suri believed the purchase would give Nokia a strategic advantage in the development of 5G wireless technologies. [151] [152] The acquisition created a stronger competitor than rivals Ericsson and Huawei,[153] which had surpassed Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent in total sales in 2014. Nokia shareholders own 66.5 percent of the new combined company, while Alcatel-Lucent shareholders own 33.5 percent. The Bell Labs division was to be retained, but the Alcatel-Lucent brand was to be replaced by Nokia.
[150] [154] In October 2015, following approval of the transaction by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the merger was awaiting approval by French regulators. [155] Despite the initial intention to sell the submarine cable division separately, Alcatel-Lucent subsequently stated that this was not the case. [156] The merger was completed on January 14, 2016,[157] but was not completed until November 3, 2016. Following the acquisition, Nokia now also owns the Alcatel mobile phone brand, which remains licensed to TCL Corporation. According to Robert Morlino, the spokesman for Nokia Technologies, Nokia planned to follow the branding model rather than direct marketing of mobile devices due to the sale of its mobile device division to Microsoft. [141] The company has taken aggressive steps to revive itself, as evidenced by hiring software experts, testing new products and finding distributors. [142] On July 14, 2015, CEO Rajeev Suri confirmed that the company would return to the mobile phone market in 2016. [143] The official manifesto of Nokia`s corporate culture since the 1990s is called The Nokia Way.
[234] It emphasizes the speed and flexibility of decision-making in a horizontal and networked organization. [235] Nokia`s rise to the top of the wireless world in the late 1990s could be attributed to the company`s ability to consistently launch high-margin products that outperform its competitors and meet market demands.
