The new logo is part of the company’s new brand identity as it tries to veer away from its legacy of being one of the world’s most successful phone brands. 

Nokia, the Finnish telecom company that once earned €51.06 billion in sales at the height of its mobile phone business (approximately PHP 3.16 trillion based on the exchange rate in 2007), revealed its brand-new logo before the start of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. The logo change—the first in nearly 60 years—no longer features Nokia’s iconic typeface and dark blue color. 

In fact, the new logo is part of the Finnish company’s new brand identity. “We are updating our strategy, and, as a key enabler, we are also refreshing our brand to reflect who we are today: a B2B technology innovation leader pioneering the future where networks meet cloud,” Nokia says in its official announcement. 

According to a report by Bloomberg, CEO Pekka Lundmark said, “In most people’s minds, we are still a successful mobile phone brand, but this is not what Nokia is about.” 

The Old Logo is Not Gone for Good

The Bloomberg report adds that Lundmark also said that Nokia wants “to launch a new brand that is focusing very much on the networks and industrial digitalization, which is a completely different thing from the legacy mobile phones.” Many see the logo changes, as well as the new brand identity, as Nokia’s effort to distance itself from the mobile phone business it was formerly known for.

Nokia was once one of the leaders in the mobile phone market but was unable to keep up with the smartphone boom led by the likes of Apple and Samsung. Eventually, the Finnish company sold its mobile phone business in 2014 to Microsoft. But according to The Verge, Microsoft lost millions on the acquisition just two years later. The Nokia mobile brand was then sold to HMD Global, an entity founded by former Nokia executives. 

“According to mobile analyst Ben Wood, Nokia has said the rebrand this week will not affect the branding license used by HMD to market its own devices,” says The Verge. In fact, the Nokia mobile band’s latest device, known as the G22, was just released—prior to the logo change made by the original company. 

Public Reaction to the New Nokia Logo

Public sentiment online regarding the new Nokia logo was varied. “Am I the only designer that likes the new Nokia logo? Brands change,” says one tweet on the subject. “Nokia wants to move away from the shackles of mobile phones. Makes sense to me.”

Another tweet asks, “If Nokia phones are so tough, why is their logo broken?”

Here are some more reactions to the new Nokia logo.