After Apple’s introduction of the iPhone and its growing multitude of Web applications, how did Nokia respond? Favorably, say industry observers, who have since shifted their outlook on Nokia’s prospects. Under Kallasvuo’s leadership, they say the company is looking to the future and introducing more interesting phones and services. For example, after Apple introduced its App Store, Nokia upped the ante by launching its Ovi Store on the Internet. The Ovi service, launched in 2007, permits Nokia phone users to access music, games, maps, videos, and more. Ovi applications also provide information targeted to a cell phone user’s geographic location. Nokia’s newly launched high-end model, the N97, competes head to head with Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion’s BlackBerry. The N97 boasts a slide-out alphabetic keyboard and a 3.5-inch touch screen with 50 percent greater resolution than the iPhone’s. What’s more, it comes preloaded with Ovi Store. In another expansion of product capability, Nokia invested $35 million in Obopay, a mobile payment service. Located in India, Obopay enables users to send and receive money using their cell phone. Such services are particularly useful in developing countries, where consumers have little access to banks or credit cards and where holding large amounts of cash can be dangerous. Nokia is also aggressively building a presence in the United States. Through a joint venture with Siemens AG, it is seeking to buy pieces of bankrupt Canadian carrier Nortel, which had a significant U.S. network and a robust research and development pipeline. The company also announced it will produce a “green” phone made with recycled steel and environmentally friendly biomaterials. Called the “Remade,” the phone has a thin, silver handset whose case is made of renewable materials instead of petroleum based plastic.

• Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo says that in the mobile-devices industry, one size will not fit all for wireless communications. How does this statement affect strategic planning at Nokia? 

• A technology-driven industry like the one in which Nokia operates can be quite fluid. From the discussion in the case, how well do you think Nokia responded to its competition? Do you think its strategic planning has improved overall?