Nokia To Return To Smartphone Market in 2016, says Report

| Updated: Tuesday, April 21, 2015, 9:50 [IST]

Nokia, once a giant mobile phone maker, could be planning to return to the handset market as early as 2016. Nokia Technologies is secretly working on a project that will end up being a new handset that's set to go official in 2016.

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Nokia To Return To Smartphone Market in 2016, says Report

According to a report from Re/code, Nokia would unleash the device and license the design and name to some other tablet from Nokia Technologies was licensed to a known Chinese manufacturer under that license scheme.

Ever since Nokia launched the N1 tablet (currently available in China) in 2014, it's being speculated that the company would re-enter the mobile phone business. It's also possible that the company's upcoming handset would be powered by Google's Android OS, instead of a new mobile OS.

Sources close to Re/code also reveal that the company is also working on different kinds of products, including Virtual reality (VR).

Just a year ago, Microsoft fully acquired Nokia's handset division for a mere $7.2 billion. As per the deal, the former handset manufacturer was barred to use "Nokia" branding in smartphones. Right now, Nokia can't sell any handsets under the Nokia brand 015 and can't license the brand until the third quarter of 2016.

Nokia didn't respond when asked to comment on the Re/code story.

There is no guarantee if Nokia would make hard cash by selling handsets. If Nokia does license its brand and designs to some powerful Chinese manufacturer, the end device is likely to be sold in emerging markets like India and China.