Everyone who’s ever had a cell phone remembers the Nokia days. Everybody and their mom had the indestructible Nokia brick, and the Finnish company was undoubtedly the company to beat in the global smartphone market. Things turned for the worse very quickly for Nokia in 2007 after it lost a large portion of its mobile phone market share. It was eventually purchased by Microsoft, who also ended up disposing of the company as well. Now, however, after a new, exclusive licensing deal with Finnish company HMD Global, the formerly-great cell phone company might be back on the rise.
According to a report from PCWorld, Nokia executive Mike Wange has confirmed that at least three Nokia-branded devices powered by Android will be making their way into the technology market in the fourth quarter of this fiscal year. The lineup is supposedly going to include both smartphone devices and tablet devices.
New Nokia devices hope to bring the company back to the forefront
The new Nokia devices will be designed by HMD Global, the Finnish company that recently bought the rights to use the Nokia brand. Interestingly enough, HMD Global is primary composed of former Nokia and Microsoft employees.
The devices will be manufactured by manufacturing giant Foxconn, the Taiwanese company that is famous for building other devices such as the Xbox One, Wii U, PlayStation 4, Blackberry, and, of course, the iPhone.
There isn’t any information regarding specifications for the upcoming devices, as Nokia didn’t divulge any juicy details. According to previous rumors, however, Nokia is planning to release two high-end smartphones this year that will run on Android 7.0 Nougat.
According to the released specifications, the new premium handset will come in two sizes: a 5.2-inch model as well as a 5.5-inch model. Both apparently have QHD OLED displays. Additionally, the devices are reported to come equipped with Snapdragon 820 processors and 22-inch megapixel cameras. Both smartphones are expected to come with metallic bodies that will be both water and dust resistant.
According to Mike Wang, the general manager at Nokia Siemens Networks, the launch might not happen this year, and warns if development and testing takes longer than expected, the devices might now be released until 2017.
During Nokia’s short time tied down with Microsoft, the only outside mobile project from the company was the Nokia N1 tablet, which ran on Android with Nokia’s own Z Launcher UI, launched in early 2015.
Nokia under new management
Earlier this week, Nokia added some legitimacy to its future ambitions by tapping former Rovio CEO Pekka Rantala as its new chief marketing officer. Rantala stepped down as CEO from Angry Birds creator Rovio after a rough fiscal year. Interestingly enough, Rantala worked at Nokia for quite some time during the 1990s and 2000s, a period which many would consider Nokia’s “golden years.”
HMD Global, currently run by former Nokia and Microsoft executive Arto Nummela, now has full control of the Nokia brand concerning its mobile technology division for the next decade. This partnership, along with Foxconn, will allow them to produce Android-powered Nokia smartphones and tablets, and plans to invest $500 million in marketing the new devices.
While many of us remember the glory days of Nokia bricks and playing Snake, HMD Global cannot rely on nostalgia alone. The company will need to make some serious innovations in a market that is full of stiff competition.
