Following rumours earlier this week that Nokia was planning to re-enter the mobile handset market in 2016, the company today issued a statement that claims that it “currently has no plans to manufacture or sell consumer handsets.”
Comments attributed to Nokia China President Mike Wang indicated that the company would re-enter the smartphone market with new Android handsets when an agreement with Microsoft to leave the smartphone market expired in 2016. Re/code reported similar news earlier in the week, attributing the news to two separate sources.
Here is Nokia’s statement in full:
Nokia notes recent news reports claiming the company communicated an intention to manufacture consumer handsets out of a R&D facility in China. These reports are false, and include comments incorrectly attributed to a Nokia Networks executive.
Nokia reiterates it currently has no plans to manufacture or sell consumer handsets.
While Nokia’s statement mentions both manufacturing and selling smartphones, it does not specifically deny plans to design such devices. Could it be that Nokia will design new smartphones but turn over manufacturing and sales operations to a licensee much as it did with the Nokia N1 tablet which Foxconn licensed?
Assuming for a moment that we’re not reading too much into this statement, Nokia’s expected return to the smartphone business will be a cautious one.
Source : Nokia