Nine people at Nokia recognized the enormous threat posed by the iPhone.

The interesting story behind Apple reveals that what we saw last week continues. An internal confidential presentation found in recently published archives shows that, the day after the iPhone launch, at least nine people at Nokia realized the great threat it posed.

Unfortunately, top executives did not listen, and in just seven years, Nokia went from being the smartphone market leader to falling behind.

As we noted recently, there is a strong tendency to imagine that a dominant company today will remain so.

The day before the iPhone launch, Nokia had an approximately 50% market share in the mobile phone industry with no other company coming close. Not only was the company financially dominant, but Nokia was also the cool and stylish brand of its time. It was the brand that young people wanted to be seen using.

However, the company executives did not realize that the launch of the iPhone changed everything. That keyless smartphones would be the future and that Apple would become the chic brand while Nokia remained at the bottom of the heap. It only took seven years for the Finnish company to leave the smartphone market.

We could have been very different if the company had listened to a group of nine people who prepared an internal presentation the day after the iPhone launch.

In the executive summary noted by Fahad X (via Daring Fireball), the team said:

The Apple iPhone is a serious and high-end competitor.

The touch interface of the iPhone could establish a new top standard. A new user interface paradigm promising unprecedented ease of use. Cool and integrated internet applications in a smooth manner. Nokia must develop a touch interface to compete.

A new user interface could change the standards of superior user experience for the entire market. Commented as "visually impressive and incredibly responsive". The interface was a big strength for Nokia, so the UI could be the greatest danger that the iPhone proposes.

The iPhone will capture the attraction of American media. If Apple achieves this market at the announced price, it will create a new high-level market.

John Gruber notes that the team was not quite in their place - they missed understanding the role played by web access or how Apple would reinvent mobile applications - but still: if Nokia's board had listened, it could still be making smartphones today.

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Figure: Nokia