Nokia is a huge name in the mobile market, but thanks to Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia’s Devices & Services division, Nokia is unable to create any smartphones that leverage that name until 2016. According to a new leak, Nokia is planning to to do just that.
Sources tell Re/code that Nokia is planning to launch a new smartphone “as early as” 2016. Detail’s on Nokia’s plans are light, but it’s said that the group behind the move is Nokia Technologies, the division that’s behind Nokia’s Z Launcher for Android and the Nokia N1 tablet. Nokia Technologies has a patent portfolio with 10,000 patents in it.
It’s expected that with new smartphones, Nokia will follow the strategy that it’s employed with the N1 tablet. With that device, Nokia designed the hardware and then licensed that design and the Nokia brand name to another company that actually produces and sells the hardware. This means that Nokia doesn’t have to invest in its own manufacturing operations and take some of the pressure of making and selling hardware off of itself.
When it comes to the features of Nokia’s future smartphones, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some Android-powered hardware running Nokia’s Z Launcher software. Nokia could create an affordable Android smartphone and market it in international markets, using both its low price and the familiar Nokia name to help push the new hardware.
Would you be interested in a new Nokia smartphone that’s similar to the N1 tablet?
