Finland’s Prime Minister Alexander Stubb tells CNBC he knows what to blame for the recent downgrade to his country’s sovereign debt rating: Apple’s iPhone and iPad.
CNBC:
“A little bit paradoxically I guess one could say that the iPhone killed Nokia and the iPad killed the Finnish paper industry, but we’ll make a comeback.”
Nokia has struggled to compete with both Apple and Android smartphone makers, leading to its acquisition by tech giant Microsoft earlier this year.
Finland is a key production site for Europe’s biggest paper producers, UPM-Kymmene and Stora Enso, and has faced increased competition from cheaper sources of paper, including China.
Stubb says he continues to be upbeat about both industries, although he concedes Finland needs a few more success stories to emerge.
“Forest is coming back in terms of bio energy and other things. And actually a new Nokia is emerged in terms of (Nokia) Networks,” he said. “Usually what happens is that when you have dire times you get a lot of innovation and I think from the public sector our job is to create the platform for it.”
What do you think of Prime Minister Stubb’s comments about Apple’s role in Finland’s economic woes? Let us know in the comments section below.
(Via iMore)
