Nokia is amongst the leading telecommunications company in the world. Originally founded in the centre of western Finland in the late 1800s, the business grown into a global leader, manufacturing mobile phones, smartphones and cutting-edge telecoms solutions. Now working in 120 different countries worldwide and providing around 125,000 global jobs, they set the gold standard in handsets and is hard to beat.

Fredrik Idestam, an engineer, started the company. He initially had a wood pulp mill, turning out both paper and cardboard products, meeting a growing need. He very quickly built the export side of the business, shipping to Russia then France. The factory gave jobs to so many; a whole community emerged and was named in honour of the company.

The company proceeded via rubber manufacturing to cable production, to meet the needs of the burgeoning telegraphic and telephonic communications market. During In '60s, the pioneering R&D teams began working on semiconductors. Thus it was that the brand made its first forays into their prime business today: telecommunications. During the Seventies, the firm turned out digital - replacing old analog - switches for the major telephone exchanges of the world.

When the first car phones came to market, Nokia was a leader on the vanguard. Finland saw the first car phone, and the brand brought the Mobira Senator out in 1982 and it became famous all around the world. Consequently, Nokia expanded dramatically in the Eighties. Company activities were still diverse, with divisions producing televisions and computers, not just telephones.

Throughout Scandinavia, the brand was quickly the foremost, most successful IT company. Only the major recession in the early 1990s forced them to focus. They did so on their telecommunications departments, which has become the most profitable segment of their business. They soon also emerged as amongst the first and most vital developers of Global Systems for Mobile Communications: or GSM.

Today the company is renowned for its digital technology. The mobile devices on offer have wireless solutions, internet capability, multimedia applications, touchscreen technology, great cameras and more. Things have moved on a pace since the 'bricks' of the 1980s, to become slick smart-phones. This brand has always been renowned for producing amongst the most appealing, reliable handsets.

Nokia is now the second biggest producer of cell phones, just behind Samsung. Their revenues exceed 47 billion dollars. With over 20% of the sales of all telephones globally, the company is truly a world player and force to be reckoned with. Even through the global economic downturn, this innovative, responsive business is riding out the storm.

Handsets that are available today number smartphones, including the Lumia, featuring Microsoft's Internet. There are also phones for business users, which send and download emails, view PDF files, edit documents and help you keep on top of the diary. Some 'phones specialize in great quality images, using PureView. This enables HD quality video plus crystal clear photography. So, whatever your need for a business tool or multimedia handset, super-quick internet or an excellent camera, Nokia has a great solution. Twenty different models are available to buy today.