4 ms·

CEO: Nokia Considers Entering Laptop Industry

9 points by mad44 18y ago

ryanwaggoner 18y ago
in the long run, I think we'll see more and more of this consumer electronics cross-over. How much difference is there really between laptops, netbooks, and smartphones? Seems like things are converging and overlapping in new ways every day. Additionally, as computing gets woven more and more into the fabric of our lives, the discrete devices maybe won't matter as much, which probably isn't great for Nokia's brand. I'm just rambling, so maybe I'm way off.
barredo 18y ago
Apple into mobiles. Nokia into laptops. What's next?
- herval 18y ago
  Microsoft into the cure for HIV - with support from Bono Vox.
- Ras_ 18y ago
  Nokia has already been in the PC business with Nokia Data until 1991. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujitsu_Siemens_Computers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujitsu_Siemens_Computers Excerpt: "The origins of the company can be traced back to the merger of the PC-divisions of the Finnish Nokia and the Swedish Ericsson in the mid 1980s when Ericsson PCs were known for their ergonomics and bright colors. In 1991 Nokia Data was sold to the British International Computers Limited (ICL). Later ICL merged with Fujitsu. The Nokia MikroMikko line of compact desktop computers continued to be produced at the Kilo factories in Espoo, Finland. Components, including motherboards and Ethernet network adapters were manufactured locally, until production was moved to Taiwan. Internationally the MikroMikko line was marketed by Fujitsu as the ErgoPro." See also MikroMikko: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MikroMikko http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MikroMikko
kirse 18y ago
I'm a huge Nokia fan (N95 8gb here) but they keep building these "mobile computers" that few people buy -- their Nokia Communicator / N800 Tablet are two examples. They should stick to making great cellphones with awesome media capabilities for now. It's the whole reason why I don't buy an iPhone, I get a quality 5MP camera that does great VGA video at 30fps and has really loud stereo speakers for playback. The whole mini-Laptop thing (which I'm guessing Nokia is looking at) is just another trend that will die off soon. It was a trend about a decade back with the Toshiba Libretto and will die out as another fad once people (again) realize how the mini-laptop is a failed compromise between a full laptop and desktop. Now a "slate" computer (like an 8.5x11" iPhone) would be sweet, so long as it had a quality touch-OS.
- ryanwaggoner 18y ago
  The whole mini-Laptop thing (which I'm guessing Nokia is looking at) is just another trend that will die off soon. It was a trend about a decade back with the Toshiba Libretto and will die out as another fad once people (again) realize how the mini-laptop is a failed compromise between a full laptop and desktop. Wrong. The Libretto was never a huge success, but netbooks are. What's happening now is not just another trend that will die off soon. "By the end of 2008, Asustek had sold 5 million netbooks, and other brands together had sold 10 million. (Europe in particular has gone mad for netbooks; sales there are eight times higher than in the US.) In a single year, netbooks had become 7 percent of the world's entire laptop market. Next year it will be 12 percent." From: http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/17-03/mf_netbooks?currentPage=2 http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/17-03/mf_netb... That's billions of dollars and several years of millions of people buying these things, using them, and continuing to buy them. There's a lot of trends making this happen, including widespread wifi, cost, and so much of our computing living in the cloud now, all of which are forecast to accelerate. You may not like them personally, but these netbooks are here to stay.
  - kirse 18y ago
    Well I stand corrected on the figures then, but I certainly won't be using one. My fingers can't take the agony of typing on a keyboard designed for mice.
old-gregg 18y ago
A hint to Nokia: to instantly create a niche and a small army of devoted followers, simply use normal quality LCDs with full 24-bit color, LED backlight, 178x178 viewing angle and matte finish. I highlighted word normal because I'm not asking for a miracle or Star Wars grade technology, just the kind of quality displays that used to be the norm on $1K+ business class laptops 2-3 years ago, but slowly got replaced by ugly, cheap, unevenly lit, 6-bit color, often glossy junk [yes, even on macbooks] In addition to my MBP's built-in display I have a 5 year old 17" Samsung hooked up as secondary monitor and comparing the same photo on 2008 MBP vs 2003 Samsung depresses me.
gustaf 18y ago
Oh no.
Ras_ 18y ago
Somehow I managed to anticipate something like this 9 days ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=485620 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=485620
Ras_ 18y ago
Original dialogue: Q: "Will Nokia produce a mini-laptop of their own some day?" A (Nokia-CEO Kallasvuo): "Never say never. Of course we are also actively looking into this business opportunity." Source: http://areena.yle.fi/toista?id=1923984 http://areena.yle.fi/toista?id=1923984 (in Finnish)

9 points by mad44 18y ago

in the long run, I think we'll see more and more of this consumer electronics cross-over. How much difference is there really between laptops, netbooks, and smartphones? Seems like things are converging and overlapping in new ways every day. Additionally, as computing gets woven more and more into the fabric of our lives, the discrete devices maybe won't matter as much, which probably isn't great for Nokia's brand. I'm just rambling, so maybe I'm way off.

barredo 18y ago

Apple into mobiles. Nokia into laptops. What's next?

herval 18y ago
Microsoft into the cure for HIV - with support from Bono Vox.
Ras_ 18y ago
Nokia has already been in the PC business with Nokia Data until 1991. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujitsu_Siemens_Computers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujitsu_Siemens_Computers Excerpt: "The origins of the company can be traced back to the merger of the PC-divisions of the Finnish Nokia and the Swedish Ericsson in the mid 1980s when Ericsson PCs were known for their ergonomics and bright colors. In 1991 Nokia Data was sold to the British International Computers Limited (ICL). Later ICL merged with Fujitsu. The Nokia MikroMikko line of compact desktop computers continued to be produced at the Kilo factories in Espoo, Finland. Components, including motherboards and Ethernet network adapters were manufactured locally, until production was moved to Taiwan. Internationally the MikroMikko line was marketed by Fujitsu as the ErgoPro." See also MikroMikko: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MikroMikko http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MikroMikko

kirse 18y ago

I'm a huge Nokia fan (N95 8gb here) but they keep building these "mobile computers" that few people buy -- their Nokia Communicator / N800 Tablet are two examples. They should stick to making great cellphones with awesome media capabilities for now. It's the whole reason why I don't buy an iPhone, I get a quality 5MP camera that does great VGA video at 30fps and has really loud stereo speakers for playback. The whole mini-Laptop thing (which I'm guessing Nokia is looking at) is just another trend that will die off soon. It was a trend about a decade back with the Toshiba Libretto and will die out as another fad once people (again) realize how the mini-laptop is a failed compromise between a full laptop and desktop. Now a "slate" computer (like an 8.5x11" iPhone) would be sweet, so long as it had a quality touch-OS.

ryanwaggoner 18y ago
The whole mini-Laptop thing (which I'm guessing Nokia is looking at) is just another trend that will die off soon. It was a trend about a decade back with the Toshiba Libretto and will die out as another fad once people (again) realize how the mini-laptop is a failed compromise between a full laptop and desktop. Wrong. The Libretto was never a huge success, but netbooks are. What's happening now is not just another trend that will die off soon. "By the end of 2008, Asustek had sold 5 million netbooks, and other brands together had sold 10 million. (Europe in particular has gone mad for netbooks; sales there are eight times higher than in the US.) In a single year, netbooks had become 7 percent of the world's entire laptop market. Next year it will be 12 percent." From: http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/17-03/mf_netbooks?currentPage=2 http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/17-03/mf_netb... That's billions of dollars and several years of millions of people buying these things, using them, and continuing to buy them. There's a lot of trends making this happen, including widespread wifi, cost, and so much of our computing living in the cloud now, all of which are forecast to accelerate. You may not like them personally, but these netbooks are here to stay.
- kirse 18y ago
  Well I stand corrected on the figures then, but I certainly won't be using one. My fingers can't take the agony of typing on a keyboard designed for mice.

old-gregg 18y ago

A hint to Nokia: to instantly create a niche and a small army of devoted followers, simply use normal quality LCDs with full 24-bit color, LED backlight, 178x178 viewing angle and matte finish. I highlighted word normal because I'm not asking for a miracle or Star Wars grade technology, just the kind of quality displays that used to be the norm on $1K+ business class laptops 2-3 years ago, but slowly got replaced by ugly, cheap, unevenly lit, 6-bit color, often glossy junk [yes, even on macbooks] In addition to my MBP's built-in display I have a 5 year old 17" Samsung hooked up as secondary monitor and comparing the same photo on 2008 MBP vs 2003 Samsung depresses me.

gustaf 18y ago

Oh no.

Ras_ 18y ago

Somehow I managed to anticipate something like this 9 days ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=485620 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=485620

Ras_ 18y ago

Original dialogue: Q: "Will Nokia produce a mini-laptop of their own some day?" A (Nokia-CEO Kallasvuo): "Never say never. Of course we are also actively looking into this business opportunity." Source: http://areena.yle.fi/toista?id=1923984 http://areena.yle.fi/toista?id=1923984 (in Finnish)