Apple iPad and iPhone Are Bankrupting Finland

With his country currently experiencing some economic turbulence, Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb said that Apple was partially to blame for Finland’s problems. In an interview with CNBC, Stubb said that several traditionally strong Finnish industries were in decline, and pointed to Apple as a major reason why.

Finland was once one of the world’s leading exporters of pulp and paper, but with demand for those products dwindling in the digital age, the industry is suffering. Worse, Apple’s outperformance of Finland’s one-time tech giant, Nokia, is largely responsible for Nokia’s dramatic decline. Microsoft purchased Nokia’s device and services businesses this past spring, punctuating the former industry leader’s fall from grace.

Stubb said, “Paradoxically, one could say that the iPhone killed Nokia and the iPad killed the paper industry, but we’ll make a comeback.” Many analysts believe that Stubb is using Apple as a scapegoat for fundamental problems with the Finnish economy. It would be practically unprecedented for the activities of a single company to have such a devastating impact an economy as developed as Finland’s.

Even so, Finland is undoubtedly experiencing economic difficulties. Its AAA credit rating was recently downgraded to AA+, a significant decline. It could take years for Finland to recover its full creditworthiness.

Mobile application developers already know that Apple is an industry juggernaut, but is the company really capable of singlehandedly sending a developed Western economy into decline? And if it is, what other major companies and industries might become casualties?

This much is certain: the future of iPhone app development in San Francisco has never looked brighter. While Apple may or may not be able to topple national economies, there’s no question that the company has a strong grip on the consumer tech industry. As the company continues to diversify its product offering, more and more opportunities will become available to software developers in the years ahead.