Last month there was speculation about Nokia getting back into the handset business. Now, there is solid evidence that the company is indeed heading in that direction.
Nokia is reportedly looking for sales partners and testing new products that indicate a return to the mobile market. The Finnish firm’s technologies division is also advertising dozens of jobs on LinkedIn for product developers, including Android engineers.
The company has already tested the waters of the tablet market in China. In January, it introduced an Android tablet called the N1. The company also recently launched a virtual-reality camera, as well as an Android app called Z launcher, which is designed to organize smartphone content.
But if Nokia is seriously looking to re-enter the market, it will have to wait until 2016 because of a non-compete deal it signed with Microsoft when it sold its handset division to the software giant in 2013. It appeared that up until recently, Nokia was going to put all of its efforts into becoming a leading manufacturer of telecom network equipment.
So far, Nokia has been quiet about its plans, but preparations are underway. The company said that its technologies division is working on projects that include smartphone development, as well as digital video and health.
The road back to prominence will not be easy, but one key factor that Nokia has on its side is a vast quantity of intellectual property relating to the mobile industry, including many patents it did not sell to Microsoft.
To cut down on risk, Nokia reportedly plans to use “brand-licensing” that bears its name in exchange for royalties, but the burden of manufacturing will go to the large manufacturing firms that will market and sell the devices.
On July 13, Nokia Technologies spokesman Robert Morlino addressed the issue of licensing: “The right path back to mobile phones for Nokia is through a brand-licensing model. That means identifying a partner that can be responsible for all of the manufacturing, sales, marketing and customer support for a product,” he wrote.
In May, Nokia announced plans to lay off 70 employees from its technologies division, but has since decided to cut that number in half.
For an inside look at Nokia Networks, check out this episode of “Digs.”
