Very few brands in this world invoke as much relatability and nostalgia as Nokia. The communications giant once ruled with more than half of mobile phone-using population using Nokia phones, globally. Ever since Microsoft took over Nokia and then killed off the partnership and the brand as well, there have been whispers and rumours around a possible comeback, and now, confirmation has arrived from the company itself.
At the Capital Markets Day 2016, a presentation slide of Nokia's agenda moving forward has a key bullet that reads, "Nokia brand's return to smartphones". This practically confirms rumours about a smartphone being made using the brand name of Nokia, although we would like to wait and see how the phone turns out to be. Most rumours point at the use of a 5.5-inch, Full HD display, along with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 430 SoC and 3GB RAM. There will reportedly be a 13-megapixel primary camera and an 8-megapixel front camera, along with 32GB of native, expandable storage. The device is expected to run on Android Nougat v7.0.
While we rejoice the prospect of the return of possibly the most iconic personal communications brand in the world, Nokia will actually not be "making" its own devices any longer. Not having the manufacturing power it did in heyday, Nokia has outsourced manufacturing services to HMD Global, who will further contract Foxconn for any Nokia-branded smartphone. Nokia will license its brand name and the patents, to ideate and research on the smartphones.
It is interesting to note that along with Nokia's brand return to phones, the company also intends to expand on VR and more patents in consumer electronics. There have also been rumours of a new Nokia tablet, and more Nokia phones with flagship-grade hardware. With all of these in line, it remains to be seen by when do the first Nokia phones hit the market.