Nokia slammed by Taiwanese company

The Finns are expert at getting away with "Blue Murder".

The Finnish Mobile phone multinational is no exception.

But a Taiwanese company decided it would expose the case in the international media. This has caused Nokia to backtrack.

The Finns do not like their "image" to be tarnished.

This appeared in an article in PC World Taiwanese supplier blasts Nokia over cancelled order, by Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service, 06/12/2005 08:26:51.

A Taiwanese maker of networking supplies took out a front page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal's Asia and Europe editions on Monday, blasting Nokia for cancelling an order it claims will put it out of business.

"UNFAIR! UNFAIR! UNFAIR! Nokia's order cancellation = Bankruptcy to YCL," reads the front page advertisement placed in the Wall Street Journal by Taiwan's YCL Electronics Co. The company also placed further details on its Web site, including e-mail correspondence purportedly between YCL and Nokia executives

The ads can also be found on the Europe and Asia main pages of The Wall Street Journal Online.

According to the information YCL placed on its Web site, the Taiwanese company owns up to the fact it signed an agreement with Nokia which stated that "Nokia may cancel the order without any liability 2 weeks prior to the delivery date" but then later complains that the agreement is unfair.

In the first series of e-mails, an executive at YCL, Dennis Hsieh laments that he will likely lose his job because he signed an unfair agreement with Nokia on his own, without consulting the president of YCL. He then complains the agreement puts all the business risk on YCL, which has to purchase the raw materials for the devices it is making for Nokia far in advance, leaving YCL vulnerable to bankruptcy if Nokia opts to renege on the deal.

The reply Hsieh gets from a Nokia executive (also included in the correspondence posted on the Web site, complete with contact details), is that Nokia is trying to find a different customer for YCL, and asks if YCL could tell Nokia its rock bottom price, according to the documents on YCL's Web site.

The next series of emails comes from a new YCL executive.

"Mr. Dennis [Hsieh] resigned because he signed a very UNFAIR agreement (No.341235) with Nokia," wrote Andy Lu, vice president of sales at YCL, in an e-mail posted on YCL's Web site. He too asks Nokia to reconsider the situation and threatens to go to the press with YCL's case.

Nokia could not be reached for comment despite several attempts to contact the company in Asia and Europe.

A representative for The Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong said her company spent at least 2 weeks ensuring it could legally place the advertisement on its pages.

YCL "have all the supporting documents, so we were able to run the ad," said Rebecca Tjouw, from The Wall Street Journal's advertising department. The type of advertisement YCL placed on its front page normally costs around US$40,000, she said.

The Finnish News Agency reported this on Friday:

Nokia says seeks a negotiated settlement with Taiwan's YCL
9.12.2005 at 10:26

Finnish mobile telephony giant Nokia told the Finnish News Agency (STT) on Friday that it was seeking to negotiate with its Taiwanese subcontractor YCL Electronics.

YCL has accused Nokia of unfair agreement practices.

"At the moment we are examining what the situation is. We are trying to keep in contact with them and settle the issue," said Eija-Riitta Huovinen, Nokia´s director of communications.

Ms Huovinen was not able to say what kind of measures Nokia was planning to undertake

In advertisements printed in the Wall Street Journal, YCL has deployed harsh language to criticise Nokia.

The damage has been done - and now the dirty Finnish core is headline news, worldwide.

Nokia will try to spin it their way, but my advice is DO NOT BELIEVE NOKIA. This is Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) by the Finns.

Under international contractual law, an agreement such as this would be null and void. Most Finnish companies use this technique as they know they can get away with it in Finland, as justice is always engineered to be on "their" side.

Indian cooperators, collaborators and sub-contractors of Nokia - be warned - and check your contracts! Write them in reverse and submit it to Nokia.

Nokia needs you, and you do not need Nokia.