'C5-00' model Nokia mobile telephone
Object No. 2021/116/23
From the early 1990s to the mid 2000s Nokia played an important role in the design and development of mobile telephones. Some of Nokia's strategies and developments were instrumental in encouraging the adoption of mobile telephones by younger users, students, trades people, and other consumer groups, whereas previously business professionals had been the primary users of this technology. The mobile telephones which make up this acquisition highlight a variety of design strategies and issues. One of Nokia's strategies was to consider the needs of various users of the technology based on studies of the users of their technology. Nokia broke down users into demographic clusters and their products for these groups included or excluded various technologies and features to fit with their budgets and styling requirements. Nokia's strategy enabled users to 'customise' their device by purchasing a product within their budget, that included features they desired and was in a package that appealed to them. In order to accomplish this Nokia developed a modular process of component manufacture. Where the essential electronic components were common to all phones and could be reconfigured to fit any of the Nokia mobile phone shells. During Nokia's period of rapid expansion, their focus remained focussed on delivering a high quality, reliable and robust product to market. You could drop your Nokia onto a hard surface and it would not be the worse for it. Campbell Bickerstaff, Curator, 2020
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Summary
Object Statement
Mobile telephone, model C5-00, plastic / metal / electronic components, designed and manufactured by Nokia Corporation, Finland, 2010
Physical Description
Mobile telephone with battery, model C5-00, plastic / metal / electronic components, designed and manufactured by Nokia Corporation, Finland, 2010
DIMENSIONS
Height
112.3 mm
Width
46 mm
Depth
12.3 mm
Weight
90 g
PRODUCTION
Notes
Nokia divided up its mobile telephone market along lines of products with features they considered would appeal to each generalised 'demographic' such as - Nokia 1xxx ? Ultrabasic series (1996?2010) The 1000 series include Nokia's most affordable phones. They were mostly targeted towards developing countries and users who do not require advanced features beyond making calls and SMS text messages, alarm clock, reminders, etc. Nokia 2xxx ? Basic series (1994?2010) Similar to the 1000 series, the 2000 series are entry-level phones. The 2000 series generally include more advanced features; many 2000 series phones feature color screens and some feature cameras, Bluetooth and even A-GPS. Nokia 3xxx ? Expression series (1997?2009, 2017) The 3000 series are predominantly mid-range phones designed to appeal to the youth market. Nokia 5xxx ? Active series (1998?2010, 2020) The Nokia 5000 series is similar in features to the 3000 series, but often contains features geared toward active individuals. Many of the 5000 series phones feature a rugged construction or contain extra features for music playback. Nokia 6xxx ? Classic Business series (1997?2010) The 6000 series is Nokia's largest family of phones. It consists mostly of mid-range to high-end phones containing a high number of features. The 6000 series is notable for their conservative, unisex designs, which make them popular among business users. Nokia 7xxx ? Fashion and Experimental series (1999?2010) The 7000 series is a family of Nokia phones with two uses. Most phones in the 7000 series are targeted towards fashion-conscious users, particularly towards women. Nokia 8xxx ? Premium series (1996?2007) This series is characterized by ergonomics and attractiveness. The internals of the phone are similar to those in different series and so on that level offer nothing particularly different, however the physical handset itself offers a level of functionality which appeals to users who focus on ergonomics. Lettered series: C/E/N/X (2005?2011) Cseries (2010?2011) The Nokia Cseries is an affordable series optimized for social networking and sharing. The range includes a mix of feature phones running Series 40 and some smart phones running Symbian. Eseries (2006?2011) The Nokia Eseries is an enterprise-class series with business-optimized products. They are all smart phones and run on Symbian. Nseries (2005?2011) The Nseries are highly advanced ssmart phones with strong multimedia and connectivity features and as many other features as possible into one device. Xseries (2009?2011) The Nokia Xseries targets a young audience with a focus on music and entertainment. Like the Cseries, it is a mix of both Series 30/40/ feature phones and Series 60/Symbian smart phones.
HISTORY
Notes
The Nokia Corporation was the result of the merger of several Finnish companies in 1967. Nokia began it foray into network and radio communications designing and making military radio equipment for Finland's defence forces around that time. By the early 1980s a mobile radio network was established in Finland and the possibilities of mobile telephony began to be explored by Nokia. By 1987, Mobira, the division of Nokia handling mobile development, was making 200 'Talkman' mobile phones a day. After settling various intellectual property rights cases in the early 1990s and announcing Nokia's poor financial position, organisational changes were made, cutting losses and purchasing 'Technophone' (Nokia's competition in the UK), a renewed focus on mobile radio / telephone communications product development commenced. Nokia focussed on durability, customer needs and quality, by 1994 Nokia was manufacturing hundreds of thousands of mobile phones. Nokia's first foray into the production of a phone in a variety of colons resulted in extraordinary surpluses of colours that did not sell. At this point in time discussions focussed on rethinking their production - the components of Nokia's phones from that point in time were treated as discrete - this enabled Nokia production of components to be be produced to fit various shells. The structure of the company also evolved and grew rapidly and successfully. Sales of mobiles reached over twenty million units the next year. In 1998 Nokia became the market leader in mobile telephones. During Nokia's expansion phase the culture of the company remained focussed on building a reliable, robust and high quality product enabled by employees who were empowered by strong collaborative teams. Following this rapid expansion the culture of the organisation began to shift toward 'success', this may have caused a deterioration in process and product development.
SOURCE
Credit Line
Gift of Stephen Baxter, 2021
Acquisition Date
23 November 2021
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