Actually nokia had an iPhone like device in 2004(whatever that means, not a lot of details, understandably[1]) but: “It was very early days, and no one really k

Actually nokia had an iPhone like device in 2004(whatever that means, not a lot of details, understandably[1]) but: “It was very early days, and no one really knew anything about the touch screen’s potential,” he explained. “And it was an expensive device to produce, so there was more risk involved for Nokia. So management did the usual. They killed it.” Apple faced a similar decision - an expensive device, that wasn't a sure success(at least in the beginning) - but they could leverage their iPod customers and their music libraries to get an initial market for the device - and than use that power together with a smart strategy(playing carriers against each other, which was hard for nokia) to fully control the phone - what enables a very different app store dynamic . Couple that with Apple's deep understanding of brand building and marketing ,one gets the notion that nokia lost to the iPhone less because of not seeing the future, but more because Apple had better resources and skills and just played a better game. And why did Apple lose to android ? due to the same reason - Google is far better at software development + Open source phone financed with ads fits Google very well. [1]http://venturebeat.com/2010/09/27/nokia-had-iphone-like-prototype-in-2004-but-killed-it/ http://venturebeat.com/2010/09/27/nokia-had-iphone-like-prot...