Shareholders are a famously impatient group. They will frequently bear with their investments when the company in question is in a stable, slow-changing market but technology companies are different.
Technology changes at such an incredible pace investors are forced to be very short-sighted. (And I won't even begin to enter the discussion of the fact that most investors are ridiculously short-sighted to begin with...)
Yes, Nokia has problems but their technical problems are surmountable. If/when Symbian 4 comes out (yes, I'm assuming Nokia will still be around in 2013) they'll finally get it all right and the markets will forget that Nokia was deemed irrelevant in 2010. Big companies have staying power. Big companies have distribution networks and carrier relationships. They have access to capital.
In my estimation Nokia's only failing (outside of their weak lineup of smartphones (voice of a paperweight E71 owner speaking)) has been their unwillingness to embrace their customers and shoppers in the in-store retail setting. Nokia has the broadest retail distribution network in the business and yet it is not being leveraged. Podo Technology spent over a year attempting to penetrate Nokia's bureaucracy to no avail. (Primarily due to gatekeepers who were more interested in their "fees" than they were showing their customer something potentially groundbreaking).
In this brief analysis of Nokia we've listed many reasons Nokia will survive and thrive. The one weakness I've personally witnessed which could be the downfall of the company? Bureaucrats and gatekeepers ignoring innovation and protecting their turf.
Apple won't bring down Nokia, but Nokia could bring down Nokia.
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