We continue to observe Nokia’s demise as Apple eats into its smartphone and handset business with its share price now down 94% from its 2000 peak. The CEO last year commented that their problem wasn’t about price, brand, competitors, positioning, distribution etc. but rather that their entire ecosystem was under threat. This is a question that we always ask our clients to consider when embarking upon any strategic discussions: Is your business model still relevant? Far too often this is taken as given and all the subsequent discussions take place within the confines of that erroneous assumption.
An interesting new book that raises the subject of innovation ecosystems using Nokia as one of the case studies, is Ron Adner’s ‘the Wide Lens’; well worth a read!