My theory about Nokia&#x27;s fall is that it was primarily driven by the company&#x27;s inability to succeed in the United States.<p>The first iPhone was indeed good, but still it wasn&#x27;t a clear win for Apple. Nokia had impressive software and features that took many years for the competitors to catch up.
In the same time, Nokia would have to catch up to the iPhone&#x27;s (usable) touch interface but couldn&#x27;t make it in time.<p>Apple (and other US companies) have a huge marketing machine; hollywood, various tv programs, music industry etc. Once this marketing machine worked for Apple, Nokia had no chance of success since it hadn&#x27;t an established audience in the US to keep the company&#x27;s image afloat until it delivered something better.<p>I believe this is also the reason the shareholders accepted so easily Microsoft and&#x2F;or Elop. Elop did the worst possible move imho, during a period of heavy competition, he changed the company&#x27;s roadmap, without thinking about the implications. You just can&#x27;t pivot that fast on such a complex product. Also by doing this he alienated the company&#x27;s audience in Europe.