Nokia is in no rush to make its phone-designing comeback, still seeking partners

If it perhaps felt like Nokia’s own executives and spokespersons weren’t very certain about the company’s future in the consumer hardware-manufacturing field, that’s because the slowly recovering Finnish tech outfit is still focused mainly on the network segment.

Meanwhile, CEO Rajeev Suri at MWC 2016 in Barcelona once again confirmed an interest in designing, then outsourcing actual production and distribution of new Nokia-branded smartphones. But apparently, “there doesn’t need to be a rush”, and the end product(s) must “feel like Nokia, what Nokia was known for.”


Exactly what that means is unclear, similar to many statements issued on the back of Microsoft’s 2014 handheld division acquisition. You can however be pretty certain the “born again” C1 is dead again, and shall remain that way until “later in 2016” or even “later than 2016.”

Forget rumors of already settled Foxconn or Meizu partnerships too, as Suri doesn’t “want to just put logos on somebody’s devices”, still exploring an abundance of different names as prospective phone-developing allies, with a general company strategy undecided yet.

We could see new Nokia tablets released before long, virtual reality hardware, heck, even a 2-in-1 Windows 10 tablet/laptop to tackle Microsoft Surfaces and the Huawei MateBook. Anything’s possible, but capitalizing on the recent Alcatel-Lucent takeover with 5G innovations is the fundamental short-term goal.