Nokia To Re-Enter Smartphone Business, Now In Search For Top-Notch Partner

Nokia wants to enter the smartphone business once again and for this reason it is now looking for a “world-class partner.” Nokia’s mobile division was acquired by Microsoft in 2014. The deal runs through 2016, allowing Finnish company to get back into the mobile phone business after that.

Robert Morlino, a spokesman from Nokia Technologies, touted the company's history on Nokia’s website. The Nokia brand still exists even though its mobile division was sold to the Redmond giant. Hence, Nokia aims to re-enter the mobile business but through a brand-licensing model.

Nokia is in search of a partner to handle functions like manufacturing, sales, advertising and customer support. Nokia will deal with “designing and technology differentiation" for future products. The Nokia brand name does appear on other devices such as its Nokia N1 tablet powered by Android OS. Once the contract period ends in 2016, it will be able to launch phones with Nokia brand name, Phone Arena said.

Nokia used the brand-licensing approach for launching the Nokia N1 tablet. It was designed by Nokia but Foxconn Inc. in Taiwan was responsible for manufacturing and selling the device.

The Nokia N1 comes with a 7.9-inch display supporting 1,536 x 2,048-pixel resolution. It is powered by an Intel Atom Z3580 quad-core 2.3 GHz processor and supported by 2 GB of RAM. The device has 32 GB of internal storage, a rear 8 megapixel camera and a 5 MP front-facing shooter. It is equipped with a 5,300 mAh battery.