Gerry Brownlee’s response to David Shearer’s desire to emulate Finland has caused a bit of a stir.
As is usual in such stoushes, emotion beats facts, but Federated Farmers has the numbers to prove sheep beat Nokia:
Federated Farmers@FedFarmers
@ChrisKeall ‘More money selling a Nokia than a couple of sheep’? Nokia lost €954m in Q4 and sales were down 31%. C/W http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/industry_sectors/imports_and_exports/OverseasMerchandiseTrade_HOTPFeb12.aspx
Hat tip: Offsetting Behaviour
Wool is having a resurgence, mainly due to supply and demand, but also a major push towards sustainability in Europe and America. But I think the point was about adding value. NOKIA did very well for a long time, but they let go of innovation and other companies like HTC took their market.
The lesson is to never stop innovating, The wool industry must get behind innovation and companies that are connected with international consumers. Luckily we still have Wools of New Zealand in the market connecting science wool and consumers.