Finland has long been in the economic doldrums. Weighed down by the steep decline in Nokia’s once dominant mobile phone business, the country has been mired in recession for four years. 

But three pieces of corporate news in recent days hint at some cause for optimism for Finland — and point to some of its challenges. All three come in consumer technology, an area in which Finland has overcome its long-held stereotype as shy and retiring (a classic Finnish joke goes: how do you tell a Finnish extrovert from an introvert? The extrovert looks at your shoes). 

First up was the release of Angry Birds, a film based on an app that once conquered the world but recently seemed to fall out of favour. To the surprise of many people, not least this columnist after attending the tepid, almost laughter-free premiere in Helsinki, the film shot to the top of the box office charts in the US and China.