A company set up by former Nokia employees called HMD Global has licensed the Nokia brand name from Microsoft, struck partnerships with device manufacturer Foxconn and intends to launch an Android smartphone in the early part of 2017.
The head of HMD Global, Arto Nummela, said: "Consumers may be carrying different smartphones now, but are they really in love and loyal to those brands?"
HMD Global will be looking to stir nostalgia in an effort to challenge the big and small players of the highly competitive smartphone market, dominated by Samsung and Apple, as well as Chinese brands such as Huawei.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 03 2016, @09:24PM
The last few Nokia phones before the Microsoft announcement weren't true Nokia phones either. The company had already outsourced to Asia and started closing down its European factories.
Maybe in the era of Brexit, Trump, and failed FARC negotiations, national identity and pride will take precedence over the race to the bottom. If that were the case, I would expect the new Nokia to get basic shit right out of the gate, like timely security updates and OS support for more than the life-cycle of a cell phone contract.
Apple has been pretty successful with the 4" iPhone SE. I would like to see a return of the Nokia N8 with modern internals and OS.