Nokia History [1865 to 1967]

The predecessors of the modern Nokia were the Nokia Company (Nokia Aktiebolag), Finnish Rubber Works Ltd (Suomen Gummitehdas Oy) and Finnish Cable Works Ltd (Suomen Kaapelitehdas Oy).[10]

Eduard Polón (1861-1930), Nokia's founder, was a Finnish business leader.[11] He was founder, CEO, Chairman of the Board and the largest shareholder of the Finnish Gummitehdas ("Rubberfactory"). He led the development of a new rubber industry in Finland. His group of companies built a modern wood and cable industry in Finland. Polón decided to use the name "Nokia", the town where his factories were based, as a brand name for his products to differentiate his products from Russian competitors.[citation needed]

Although these three companies—Suomen Gummitehdas, Suomen Kaapelitehdas and Nokia Ab—were not formally merged, as the law did not allow it at the time, Polón continued to create a successful conglomerate that later became Nokia PLC. Polòn was the chairman, managing director, and the largest owner of the group for 30 years.[citation needed]

Nokia Ab's history started in 1865 when mining engineer Fredrik Idestam established a ground wood pulp mill on the banks of the Tammerkoski rapids in the town of Tampere, in southwestern Finland (part of the Russian Empire).[12] In 1868, Idestam built a second mill near the town of Nokia, fifteen kilometers (nine miles) west of Tampere, by the Nokianvirta river, which had better hydropower resources.[13] In 1871, Idestam, with the help of close friend and statesman Leo Mechelin, renamed and transformed his firm into a share company, thereby founding Nokia Ab. The company's name came from the Nokianvirta river, nearby which Polón's factories were located a few years later.[14][15][13]

Towards the end of the 19th century, Mechelin sought to expand into the electricity business, but his aspiration was initially thwarted by Idestam's opposition. However, Idestam's retirement in 1896 allowed Mechelin to become the company's chairman (from 1898 until 1914), and he subsequently convinced shareholders.[13] In 1902, Nokia added electricity generation to its business activities.[12]

Industrial conglomerate

In 1898, Polón founded Finnish Rubber Works, manufacturer of galoshes and other rubber products, which later became Nokia's rubber business.[10] At the beginning of the 20th century, Finnish Rubber Works established its factories near the town of Nokia and began using its name as its product brand.[16] In 1912, Arvid Wickström founded Finnish Cable Works, producer of telephone, telegraph and electrical cables and the foundation of Nokia's cable and electronics businesses.[10] At the end of the 1910s, shortly after World War I, the Company was nearing bankruptcy.[17] To ensure the continuation of electricity supply from Nokia's generators, Finnish Rubber Works acquired the business of the insolvent company.[17] In 1922, Finnish Rubber Works acquired Finnish Cable Works.[18] In 1937, Verner Weckman, a wrestler and Finland's first Olympic Gold medalist, became president of Finnish Cable Works, after 16 years as its technical director.[19] After World War II, Finnish Cable Works supplied cables to the Soviet Union as part of war reparations. This gave the company a foothold for later trade.[19]

The three companies, jointly owned since 1922, were merged to form a new industrial conglomerate, Nokia Corporation, in 1967.[20] The new company was involved in many industries, producing at various times paper products, car and bicycle tires, footwear (including rubber boots), communications cables, televisions and other consumer electronics, personal computers, electricity generation machinery, robotics, capacitors, military communications and equipment (such as the SANLA M/90 device and the M61 gas mask for the Finnish Army), plastics, aluminum and chemicals.[21] Each business unit had its own director who reported to the first Nokia Corporation President, Björn Westerlund. As the president of the Finnish Cable Works, he had been responsible for setting up the company's first electronics department in 1960, sowing the seeds of Nokia's future in telecommunications.[22]

The company decided to exit consumer electronics in the 1990s and focused solely on the fastest growing segments in telecommunications.[23] Nokian Tyres, manufacturer of tires, split from Nokia Corporation in 1988[24] and two years later Nokian Footwear, manufacturer of rubber boots, was founded.[16] In 1989, Nokia also sold the original paper business; currently this company (Nokian Paperi) is owned by SCA. During the rest of the 1990s, Nokia divested itself of all other businesses.[23]