Nokia Smartphones and Tablets Running Android OS to Be Released

However, it seems that the Nokia brand still has a few fights left, since Android-based Nokia handsets might be coming to shelves in the near future.

The new company - HMD global - is being granted an exclusive branding and intellectual property licence to create Nokia-branded mobile phones and tablets for the next ten years. As early as 2014 it dipped a toe back into the mobile market with the release of the Nokia-branded N1 tablet, manufactured under license by Foxconn, the manufacturing partner of HMD.

Sound confusing? Just think of it like this: a company bought the rights to build new phones using the Nokia name, but the products you'll see weren't made by the Nokia you might remember from a few years ago. It's all rather incestuous and confusing, but the long and short of it is: New Nokia-branded phones and tablets are on the way.

Nokia had previously sold its mobile phone business to Microsoft in 2014, and subsequently, the software major had begun offering devices as part of its Lumia brand.

Nokia will take a seat on the board of directors of HMD and will set standards for performance and brand requirements so "that all Nokia-branded products exemplify consumer expectations of Nokia devices, including quality, design and consumer-focused innovation". Nummela will be the CEO of the new company when the deal is done, of which it's expected to be done by the end of June. It will continue to support its Lumia range of smartphones, which run on Windows. In return for HMD Global using the brand name, Nokia will get royalties. HMD and Nokia Technologies entered an agreement on cooperation with FIH. "For Nokia, the agreement offers the chance to generate ongoing revenue from mobile devices without having to become involved in the manufacturing and distribution of hardware".

Source: Nokia Smartphones and Tablets Running Android OS to Be Released