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October 14, 2014

Apple to blame for Finland's economic problems, prime minister says

Apple is to blame for the economic weakening of Finland, the country’s prime minister suggested in an interview on Monday morning.

The comments come after S&P downgraded Finland on Friday. The ratings agency cited the Nordic country’s ageing population, shrinking workforce and slowing exports.

Alexander Stubb, prime minister of Finland, isolated two sectors in particular that have declined in recent years at the hands of Apple products.

“We have two industrial problems - two champions which went down,” Mr Stubb told CNBC.

"I guess one could say that the iPhone killed Nokia and the iPad killed the Finnish paper industry, but we'll make a comeback."Apple is to blame for the economic weakening of Finland, the country’s prime minister suggested in an interview on Monday morning.

The comments come after S&P downgraded Finland on Friday. The ratings agency cited the Nordic country’s ageing population, shrinking workforce and slowing exports. Alexander Stubb, prime minister of Finland, isolated two sectors in particular that have declined in recent years at the hands of Apple products.

“We have two industrial problems - two champions which went down,” Mr Stubb told CNBC.

"I guess one could say that the iPhone killed Nokia and the iPad killed the Finnish paper industry, but we'll make a comeback."Since 2007, when Nokia was worth around $150 billion, its share price has plummeted by more than 75pc.

Microsoft bought the ailing company's devices division for $7bn earlier this year. The paper industry is similarly important for the Finnish economy; forestry accounts for about a fifth of Finland’s exports and 18pc of the country’s industrial output value.

This sector has also taken a hit in recent years, with paper exports expected to shrink for the fourth consecutive year in 2014. Since the first iPad was released in 2010, a bevy of other tablets and e-readers have become available, taking their toll on the traditional paper market.

Apple's expansion has created more than half a million jobs in Europe. Since 2008, European developers have made $6.5bn (£4bn) from App Store sales.

Ending on a more upbeat note, Mr Stubb said, “Forest is coming back in terms of bioenergy and other things, and actually a new Nokia has emerged in terms of networks, but we do need a few more success stories. Usually what happens is that when you have dire times, you get a lot of innovation.”

telegraph.co.uk

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