Nokia confirms plans to re-enter mobile phone market

HELSINKI — Finnish telecoms equipment maker Nokia, once the world’s biggest manufacturer of mobile phones, confirmed late on Monday that it might start designing and licensing mobile phones under its brand name next year.

Nokia said it was looking for a partner who would take on the manufacturing, sales, marketing and customer support for the products. “We will look for the right partner who can take on the heavy lifting.”

The company said that a Nokia mobile phone would not reach the market before the fourth quarter of next year, when Nokia’s agreement with its partner Microsoft allows it to use the brand name again.

Nokia sold its phone business to Microsoft in 2014, after years of declining sales as it failed to keep up with innovations led by the likes of Apple’s iPhone and Samsung.

However, months later it launched a new brand-licensed tablet computer,produced under licence by Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn, with the intention to follow up with more devices.

“The right path back to mobile phones for Nokia is through a brand-licensing model. That means identifying a partner that can be responsible for all of the manufacturing, sales, marketing and customer support for a product,” Nokia said.

“If and when we find a world-class partner who can take on those responsibilities, we would work closely with them to guide the design and technology differentiation ... That’s the only way the bar would be met for a mobile device we’d be proud to have bear the Nokia brand, and that people will love to buy.”

In April, Nokia announced a €15.6 billion (S$23.4 billion) takeover of Alcatel-Lucent in a bid to boost the network-equipment business that is now its mainstay.

It is also hiving off its mapping business, which has drawn interest from German premium carmakers BMW, Audi and Mercedes, as well as Silicon Valley and Chinese Internet and technology businesses.

Agencies