Nokia Was Worth 40 Times More Than Apple 25 Years Ago, When The Legendary Nokia 3310 Was Launched: 7 Years Later, Steve Jobs Ended The Era Of Dumb Phones. Is The Writing On The Wall For Cupertino As It Trails In The AI Race?

Twenty-five years ago, Nokia Corporation NOK stood tall as the undisputed leader of the mobile phone industry. In 2000, the Finnish telecom giant was valued at $204.28 billion.

By contrast, Apple Inc. AAPL was a struggling computer company with a market capitalization of just $5.13 billion, making Nokia worth nearly 40 times more than the now-dominant tech titan.

The same year, Nokia released the legendary 3310, a durable, user-friendly phone that became an instant classic. It sold over 128 million units globally, according to Medium.

However, just seven years later, everything changed. In 2007, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone, ushering in the smartphone era and sealing the fate of Nokia's once-thriving dumb phone empire.

Within a few years, Apple overtook Nokia—and nearly every other mobile manufacturer—in both innovation and market share. Today, Nokia's market cap is at $128.13 billion, while Apple is the third most valuable company in the world with a $2.99 trillion market capitalization.

Now, the script appears to be flipping again.

Apple, despite being one of the most valuable companies in history, has been slow to embrace the artificial intelligence revolution that is reshaping the tech industry.

Meanwhile, rivals like Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Google, Microsoft Corp. MSFT and new-age startups like OpenAI are sprinting ahead with consumer and enterprise AI products.

The question now echoing through the corridors of the tech industry is whether Apple's lagging progress in AI could mirror Nokia's decline—a once-dominant player caught flat-footed by the next wave of innovation.

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Eddy Cue, a senior executive at Apple, has also hinted that AI could have the same disruptive impact on Apple as the iPhone once had on Nokia.

During his testimony in the DOJ's antitrust case against Alphabet, Cue warned that the iPhone itself could lose relevance within the next decade, adding, "As crazy as that sounds."

Jony Ive, Apple's former design chief, has also referred to smartphones and laptops as "legacy products," implying they no longer define the future of computing. His remark came as OpenAI shared plans to develop a line of AI-driven devices in collaboration with the renowned designer.

According to Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, OpenAI now presents the most serious competitive threat to Apple in the past two decades.

While Apple is rumored to unveil new AI features at its Worldwide Developers Conference on June 9, the pressure is mounting.

Price Action: Over the past five years, Apple shares have risen by 142.34%, though they are down 17.63% year-to-date, according to Benzinga Pro.

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