--AD--
Almost Fallen mobile phone giant Nokia is planning to rise
again next year with new phones — this new Nokia will be based on Android OS.
There has been rumors about their come back, but it's now
official, as the company itself confirmed it in a press release on Thursday.
The new Nokia phones will be manufactured by Foxconn
subsidiary FIH Mobile and sold by a Finnish company called HMD Global, which
will have an exclusive global license for the Nokia brand for the next ten
years.
The story of the new, new Nokia is somewhat complex, so
here's a little background: Microsoft bought Nokia's struggling mobile phone
division in 2013 for $7.2 billion but it ditched the Nokia brand the following
year, instead calling its mobile phones Microsoft Lumia.
Despite a strong push into mobiles and a solid alternative
to the iOS and Android in the Windows Phone platform, the plan didn't work out
as Microsoft had imagined, and the company sold what was left of its phone
hardware business to HMD Global and FIH Mobile. Nokia, which still owns the
Nokia brand, has licensed it to HMD Global, and will receive royalty payments
for the sale of every Nokia-branded phone or tablet. That deal, originally
announced in May 2016, is now sealed.
In practice, this means another Android player has emerged
in the overcrowded market, albeit one with a familiar brand name, a move Nokia
claims is enthusiastically greeted by consumers.
There's nothing in terms of official device announcements
yet, but Nokia did launch a new "phones" section on its website.
Unofficially, the first Nokia phones in 2017 will be a 5- and a 5.5-inch
Android with midrange specs, and they might arrive in time for Mobile World
Congress, which takes place in late February in Barcelona.
Got anything to add to this post? Tell us via comments
Comments
Post a Comment
Important - If you ask a question make sure you tick the "Notify Me" box below the comment form to be notified of follow up comments and replies.