Nokia and BlackBerry bet on AI infrastructure for a comeback
Nokia and BlackBerry, once faded from the smartphone world, are finding new life in the AI boom. Each company has repositioned around the infrastructure and security that AI systems depend on.
Nokia, now a telecom equipment maker, sells the high-speed networking gear that large AI data centers need to move massive amounts of data quickly. As companies race to build out AI infrastructure, demand for that kind of equipment has grown, giving Nokia a meaningful revenue opportunity.
BlackBerry exited smartphones years ago and rebuilt itself as an enterprise security software company. With AI systems handling sensitive data across businesses, demand for robust security tools is rising, and BlackBerry is positioning itself to capture that. Neither company is building AI itself — instead, both are carving out niches in the ecosystem that supports AI, leveraging existing enterprise relationships and brand recognition.
Key points
- Nokia supplies high-speed networking hardware used in AI data centers
- BlackBerry sells enterprise security software suited to AI deployments
- Both companies focus on AI infrastructure support, not AI development itself
- Each has fully pivoted from consumer products to business-to-business (B2B) services
- The broader AI buildout is creating indirect opportunities for unexpected legacy companies
Quick term guide
- infrastructure
- The technical systems that keep a website or app running.
- data centers
- Large buildings full of computers that run online services and AI systems.
- data center
- A large facility full of servers that runs internet services and AI computations
- enterprise security software
- Programs that protect business computer systems and data from threats
- enterprise
- A large business or company, which usually buys special software plans for better security and privacy guarantees.
- software
- Programs or apps that run on a computer or smartphone.
- ecosystem
- A group of connected apps and services that work well together.
- deployment
- The process of putting software changes into a running system.