For some, it might feel like a lifetime ago that the Nokia name disappeared altogether from the smartphone market, but in reality it’s only been a year or two. Those who were big, big Nokia fans will remember what happened to the Finnish brand quite well. For those not familiar, however, Nokia started to use Windows Phone software exclusively for their devices, leading to the Lumia line of products, and after a time, Microsoft ended up purchasing the phone business part of Nokia, which effectively meant buying the “Lumia part” of the company back in 2014 for something in the region of $7 Billion. As part of the deal, Nokia was unable to release a competing product into the market until a two-year time period had passed. Now, that time appears to be up, as there’s more talk than ever of Nokia returning to the smartphone world, and it could happen before the end of this year.
According to a report from Chinese publication, “The Paper”, Mike Wang, President of Nokia Networks’ Chinese Division, has said that both smartphones and tablets are scheduled for release this Quarter. Given that we’ve just entered Q4 of 2016, it’d be interesting to see such devices launch this late in the year, but as we’ve recently heard, Nokia has seemingly lined up a big marketing firm to help promote these devices. Back in May of this year, Foxconn subsidiary HMD Global acquired the rights to the Nokia brand where smartphones were concerned, and it sounds as though a release of these new devices could be just around the corner.
As for tablets, Nokia and Foxconn have already partnered before, with the launch of the Nokia N1 tablet. With smartphones and tablets specifically named by the report out of China, we could be about to see a whole new line of devices launch from Nokia. Of course, whether or not this report is true, we can’t be certain of. One thing is for sure, however, and that’s that the Nokia brand will be returning to the smartphone world, whether that’s this year or next. There has been too much noise surrounding this, and with Nokia executives letting the cat out of the bag, and an appearance during Mobile World Congress next march, it looks all but set to happen sooner, rather than later.