Nokia
has seen its share of ups and downs. The company was once among the
biggest brands on the planet. However, it could not keep up the pace
with the changing face of the smartphone industry, and lost its position
to the likes of Apple and Samsung. It even came to a point where the
company had to
sell its phone business
to Microsoft in 2014. Now, the company has reportedly confirmed that it
will be making a comeback by launching Android-powered smartphones and
tablets in the fourth quarter of 2016.
According to a report by Chinese news firm
The Paper, the Nokia China President Mike Wang has confirmed that there
will be three to four Nokia-branded devices that will be launched in
the fourth quarter of this year. These devices will include both
smartphones and tablets.
Under the deal between Microsoft and
Nokia, the latter was restricted from launching devices under its brand
name till the last quarter of 2016. It seems as if Nokia is extremely keen to re-enter its lost
territory.
It should be noted that these devices will not be
manufactured at the plants where Nokia's earlier smartphones were
manufactured, and as per the company's brand licensing deal, the
products will be manufactured by Finnish company HMD Global. Nokia,
earlier this year, had granted
HMD Global the exclusive license to create Nokia-branded mobile phones
and tablets for the next 10 years.
In July, rumours suggested that
two Nokia-branded Android phones made by Finland's HMD Global might be
soon making their way to the market. The leaks suggested that the
5.2-inch and 5.5-inch phones will sport 2K resolution (QHD) displays and
will come with IP68 certification, which effectively means they will be
highly resistant to water and dust on the similar lines to phones like
the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and Galaxy S7.
Further ex-Nokia and
Rovio employee Pekka Rantala joined HMD as a chief marketing officer
recently, which might suggest that the company is showing seriousness
towards the comeback.
It would be interesting to see how Nokia's
brand name fares with collaboration with Android and whether the
company, which was once considered the benchmark for hardware on
cellphones, is able to recapture its lost charm.
HMD Working on Nokia Lumia 1020-Inspired Smartphone: Report3 September 2024
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