I just found out that a web service that I have relied upon to track my travel is on a one way train to nowhere. Dopplr, an elegant alternative to TripIt, was acquired by Nokia for around 20 million USD last September in a deal that I hoped would help extend the service’s functionality. Not happening, according to this article in the Guardian. A statement released by Nokia (after the article, of course) said that the site is now in “maintenance mode” and will not be developed further. The article goes on to list a number of other Nokia acquisitions that have resulted in … nothing. Nothing visible, at least. Several of Dopplr’s founders remain with the company and presumably contribute some value. Still, this story highlights an innovation-related question: generate, convert, and diffuse from within? Or acquire and hope the company’s people and technologies make a long-term contribution to your strategic objectives.
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3 replies on “Nokia – the innovation killer?”
Great article! I like the end of the article, “Where good ideas go to die …”
Nokia is trying to create a services eco-system (like iTunes), but struggling, since they are first and foremost a handset company. A friend of mine was the founder of Plum, which Nokia bought. He is now working at Nokia, I wonder for how long. How do you shift from manufacturing phones to becoming a software company—not easy? Morten
Great article indeed. Everything we’ve talked about makes me wonder about the factors in play that would lead to such difficulty integrating new products at Nokia. As such a large manufacturer with such slim profit margins (pre-tax: 4.3%) I’d speculate that there’s a major push at the company to meet manufacturing and financial metrics and an inability to provide the breathing space for new businesses to flourish.
Also, Dopplr in its current state doesn’t seem to fit well with the Nokia business model. According to their org chart, the company is almost entirely focused on “mobile”: solutions, devices, etc. Dopplr has historically been a web-based tool, with its only foray into the mobile market an iPhone app, so it’s plausible that Nokia sees Dopplr, in its current form, as irrelevant (at best) or even a threat to their core handset business.
http://www.nokia.com/about-nokia/company/structure
On a personal note, this is really sad news about Dopplr—I’ve used it for years and have all my major trips since 1996 logged in it. Here’s hoping Nokia doesn’t pull the plug entirely.
Dan – they have an export feature. Better get started just in case! In the meantime I’ll keep my fingers crossed too.