Public Lecture: The Battle for the Electronics Industry

Lecture Series 2026–2027: Small and Large Forces: From Companies to Ecosystems The lecture series organized in collaboration by the Hela Researchers’ Association, the Jyväskylä Adult Education Centre (Jyväskylän kansalaisopisto), and the Science for All (Tiedettä kaikille) activity of the University of Jyväskylä continues again in November. The aim of the lecture series is to present research conducted at the Department of History and Ethnology, and this academic year’s theme is: Small and Great Forces: From Corporations to Ecosystems. The lecture series will be delivered in a hybrid format in the Tietoniekka space (B116) on the first floor of the University of Jyväskylä Library Lähde, as well as online. We will organize two lectures in the autumn of 2026, followed by another two lectures in the spring of 2027. Public Lecture: FM Akseli Saarinen: The Battle for Electronics Industry: Nokia and the Development of Finnish Electronics Industry in the 1960s–1980s Finnish electronics industry rose to become a central field of economic and technological development in the latter half of the 20th century. At the center of this development was Nokia, whose position was shaped in the 1960s–1980s in a situation where the state's efforts to direct and reform industry met companies' own objectives. In these tensions, decisions were made that created the foundation for Nokia's later success in the mobile phone industry. The lecture is based on my ongoing doctoral research and examines the so-called "battle for electronics industry," a concept derived from Nokia's own historiography. The research is based on extensive archival material, such as board meeting minutes, internal memos and correspondence, and analyzes how Nokia sought to influence the direction of industry development across several interconnected areas. In the lecture, I will present the key themes and findings of my research and illustrate them through examples. Particular attention is paid to the role of company management, especially CEOs Björn Westerlund and Kari Kairamo, whose strategic choices positioned Nokia as an active actor in the national economic policy discussion. In this way, I will reveal how Nokia's operations influenced the development of the electronics industry and strengthened its position in emerging technology fields.