Is Finland too dependent on Nokia?

[crystal]

Some weeks ago, Nokia announced their sales growth did not meet exceptations by a couple of percents. Soon after that the Helsinki stock exchange's Hex index fell by 10%, not to mention the Nokia's stock, which fell even more. Here is some numbers of Nokia's contribution to the Finnish economy:

GDP 4 %
GDP growth 1.5 % points
Business sector research & development 35 %
Exports 25 %
Total Employment 1 %
Manufacturing employment 5 %

I don't think any other Western nation is so dependent on one company? This doesn't seem very sustainable in the long term.

 

[yaroslav]

I understand your concerns... It's not only that Nokia is so important, is that I've got the feeling that the entire technology sector of Finland depends upon Nokia....

 

[crystal]

Originally posted by yaroslav
I understand your concerns... It's not only that Nokia is so important, is that I've got the feeling that the entire technology sector of Finland depends upon Nokia....

Well, according to the source, Nokia's direct contribution is that 35% in technology. I just realized those figures do not include subcontractors.

 

[yaroslav]

Yep, I'm a Telecommunication Engineering and I took a voluntary course of economy (3 years ago right now) where I was asked to do some research about Nokia.... It ended showing that there was around 300 subcontrators that contribute a lot to the IT sector of Finland and that were totally dependent on Nokia.

But Nokia appears to have strong health and it's still thought to be the "coolest" company around our teenagers

 

[addiv]

Wow, Nokia really seems to play a big role in the Finnish economy. Less dependence on it would be a good thing, but Finland did fine before Nokia, so I wouldn't be too concerned.

 

[luiz]

At least your not Bolivia!

30% of the bolivian GDP comes from a single company, Petrobrás, that is not even bolivian, it's brazilian!

Seriously though, although Finland may seem too dependent on Nokia, I see Nokia as very positive thing for the country. If Nokia never existed Finland would be very worse-off.

 

[yaroslav]

And what about Middle East oil-dependent countries? I mean, I read somewhere than, if you don't count Israel, Finland alone exports more than all the Middle East countries - except the oil, of curse.

 

[crystal]

Originally posted by luiz
At least your not Bolivia!

30% of the bolivian GDP comes from a single company, Petrobrás, that is not even bolivian, it's brazilian!

Seriously though, although Finland may seem too dependent on Nokia, I see Nokia as very positive thing for the country. If Nokia never existed Finland would be very worse-off.

I was talking about Western countries. Surely you can find dozens of developing countries who get 80% of their exports from one resource.

Yep, even if Nokia went bankrupt, it's not likely here would be a famine.

 

[yaroslav]

Ummm - Well, I don't know if that count as "a resource", but Spain herself is veyr dependendant on tourists.

 

[luiz]

Originally posted by crystal
I was talking about Western countries. Surely you can find dozens of developing countries who get 80% of their exports from one resource.

Bolivia is western(more western then Finland!)
Now, if you're talking about developed nations...

Originally posted by crystal

Yep, even if Nokia went bankrupt, it's not likely here would be a famine.

That's my point. Nokia only brings profit to Finland.