Nokia-branded Android based handsets could be back in Australian stores late in 2016.
Instead of the hapless Windows OS the new devices will be designed by Nokia and made by the likes of Foxconn the makers of the Apple iPhone.
Nokia management who got Nokia branded phones to #1 in Australia are chaffing at the bit for their none compete clause with Microsoft to finish in Q4 2016, so that they can unleash a new breed of smartphone on the market.
Microsoft forked over $7.2 billion for Nokia’s devices division in April 2014 but has so far failed to conjure an upturn in fortunes for handsets running the Windows Phone software.
The future of Microsoft-built smartphones remains in question, despite the prospect of Windows 10 universal apps offering a more complete and productive ecosystem.
In an interview with Manager Magazin in Germany, Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri revealed the firm will indeed be returning to its most illustrious roots.
However, Nokia has no plans to manufacture handsets itself, once restrictions are lifted in Q4 2016, according to Suri.
Instead the firm will design devices and then license the Nokia brand name out to hardware partners.
Suri said: “We will look for suitable partners. Microsoft makes mobile phones. We would simply design them and then make the brand name available to license.”
The strategy would mirror that, which saw the Android-powered N1 tablet come to market in 2015, manufactured by Chinese giant Foxconn.
Observers claim that the timing of Suri’s revelation is interesting given Microsoft this week appeared to cast aside ex-Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, who presided over the Finnish company’s fall from the top of the mobile phone market to a bit part player.
