I think Nokia holds a special place in the hearts of a lot of Chinese mobile phone users. When I first moved to the country in 2007, my Chinese friends all told me: get a Nokia. They’re cheap, they’re durable, and they work; this was the mantra that helped the mobile phone company dominate China’s nascent mobile marketplace.
Just a few years later, though, things have changed dramatically, as evidenced by Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia yesterday. Nokia’s dominance is long-gone in China, but could the acquisition put the once-popular company back on the upswing there?
Sina Tech conducted a poll of 70,000 its readers — so mostly tech geeks, presumably — and found that more than 54 percent look favorably on the buyout, with just over 30 percent pessimistic about the company’s prospects under Microsoft’s wing and the remaining 14 percent not sure.
The mood on Sina Weibo seems to be similar, with lots of people hoping the acquisition can re-invigorate the struggling company. Hope might be the key word there; China’s net users are definitely also engaging in a little bit of nostalgia for the (good?) old days when everybody had a Nokia brick. For example, this lengthy infographic charting Nokia’s handsets over the years is making the rounds.
Of course, it wouldn’t be the Chinese web without jokes, so here’s a bit of one of the most popular images that’s being passed around. Translation by us:
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