Nokia name to return to smartphones in bet on brand’s power

STOCKHOLM — The Nokia brand is set to return to smartphones two years after the Finnish company sold its handset business amid competition from the iPhone and Android devices.

The Finnish company has signed a deal with a Helsinki-based firm run by former Nokia executives to bring new mobile phones and tablets to the market. 

HMD Global plans to invest US$500 million (S$690 million) over the next three years in marketing the devices, which will run Google’s Android operating system. Nokia will not have a financial stake in the venture, although it is set to collect fees from brand licensing and intellectual property. HMD has now purchased the rights to use the Nokia trademark on feature phones until 2024, and all remaining feature phone assets, including sales, manufacturing and distribution, will be sold to FIH Mobile Limited — a subsidiary of electronics manufacturer Foxconn.

Nokia, once the largest mobile manufacturer in the world, failed to cater to the growing consumer appetite for smartphones spearheaded by Apple and Google in the late 2000s. Rapidly falling sales led to the company almost declaring bankruptcy in 2012.

Nokia exited the handset business in 2014 by selling assets to Microsoft. But Microsoft too has been struggling: Rumours suggest plans to axe the poorly-selling Lumia line and reinvigorate its smartphones with a new Surface Phone. 

A lack of popular apps and an unpopular ecosystem means Microsoft holds less than 2 per cent of the global smartphone market, and sold just 2.3 million units during the first three months of the year.

Comparatively, Samsung shipped close to 82 million handsets during the same period, according to research from market analysts IDC. AGENCIES