The heavily criticized Nokia CEO, Stephen Elop has been able to turn the ailing mobile giant’s luck with well-timed and executed changes, and on Friday the hard work paid off as Nokia’s share jumped 18 percent in the Helsinki stock exchange signaling a shift that might restore the company’s status as a market maker after several years of decline.

After massive layouts last June, I wrote a piece predicting a gloomy future for the Finnish flagship. Astonishingly, there are real signs that Nokia is bouncing back. The world of technology coupled with top-notch marketing can work wonders and usually the Finns, who excel in producing quality products, but fail in marketing, seem to have managed to persuade the younger generations that Nokia is still hip and not just a phone for toddlers to play with and geriatrics to step on.
A report at forbes.com makes the argument that Apple is no longer the gadget of choice for teenagers.

“The signs that youngest smartphone audience has cooled on Apple have been steadily accumulating over the past few months. Apple, for instance, dropped several spots or remained flat on several teen brand opinion polls, including marketing agency’s Smarty Pants’ Young Love survey. And while 67% of affluent teens still say they intend to purchase an iPhone as their next upgrade, reports Piper Jaffray, Samsung pulls in second with a strong 22%. Perhaps more importantly is the fact that it was unthinkable a mere 12 months ago that any teen would prefer any phone to an iPhone if given the option,” Forbes’ Larissa Faw wrote.

Although the mobile phone market is no longer a game of only a few players, Nokia will face tough competition from constantly improving Samsung and even ailing HTC and RIM, but perhaps Apple’s downfall is Nokia’s silver lining.