Is Nokia planning on making a return to the mobile devices market? In the words of Nokia Technologies spokesman Robert Morlino “it’s complicated”.Speculation over a potential return to mobiles for Nokia has been building, with Nokia earlier in the year responding to speculation, stating that it had no plans to manufacture or sell consumer handsets.
Nokia sold its handset division to Microsoft last year, and under the terms of the sale agreed to not re-enter the handset market until the 2016 fourth quarter.
“The Nokia that exists today remains focused on the connected world, through mobile network infrastructure, location and mapping services, and technology development and licensing,” Morlino wrote.
“We also aim to continue bringing our iconic design capabilities and technology innovation to the mobile space, and in the form of amazing products people can someday hold in their hands. However, we’ll do it in a completely different way from before.”
Should Nokia re-enter the market, it would do so through a brand-licensing model, Morlino explained, identifying a partner that would take responsibility for the manufacturing, sales, marketing and customer support for a product.
“If and when we find a world-class partner who can take on those responsibilities, we would work closely with them to guide the design and technology differentiation, as we did with the Nokia N1 Android tablet,” Morlino wrote.
“That’s the only way the bar would be met for a mobile device we’d be proud to have bear the Nokia brand, and that people will love to buy.”
