Finnish telecom giant is probably going to foray once again in the mobile phone business, albeit this is via a license-ship model. Nokia’s official release on whether we’re gonna see a NOKIA engraved phone again, mostly reiterates statements made by CEO Rajeev Suri.
This signifies the fact that Nokia’s remaining part of Devices and Services group(out of the sale to Microsoft) isn’t dead yet. The development comes after rumors were rife that Nokia was planning to launch into the mobile phone business again in June.
“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.”
said Nokia Technologies spokesman Robert Morlino in a statement.
He further adds,
The Nokia that exists today remains focused on the connected world, through mobile network infrastructure, location & mapping services, and technology development & licensing. 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.
However, as termed by the company itself, it’s way to get back to phone’s business is ‘complicated.’ Why so ? Well, Morlino explains it quite clearly,
We sold essentially all of our Devices & Services business to Microsoft in April 2014. With it went all of the enormous manufacturing, marketing and channel distribution capabilities you need to be in the business of making & selling phones.
Initially(at least), the phones aren’t going to be first-party. Rather, Nokia is looking for a partner who can manufacture, sell, market, and provide customer support for a smartphone product. Nokia would have a key role in the design and branding of the device, both of which enjoy superior levels of popularity and recognition across the world, especially in its stronghold markets such as India.
Also, don’t expect to get your hands on one of these third-party phones before Q4 2016, thanks to the terms of the deal Nokia agreed to when it signed the sale deeds with Microsoft.
It recently announced the N1 Android tablet in partnership with Foxconn. It even sold off a number of its smartphone-licensing product patents to LG.
About five years back, Nokia was the king of the smartphone world, with Apple trailing behind nearly half of it’s market share. However, failing to innovate and keep up with the dynamic smartphone business in respect of both hardware and software cost the company dearly. They say patience bores fruit, and here’s hoping Nokia has something interesting up their sleeve.
After all, we are Indians, and yes, we have certain emotional attachment to Nokia, and we want to see it back !
