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Nokia, the makers of most people’s first mobile phone, is poised to make a comeback after finalising a deal to license out its brand onto a new line of phones and tablets.
The Finnish tech firm today announced that it has signed a licencing deal with a newly formed company called HMD Global, which will work on a new line of Android-powered Nokia smartphones and tablets that will go on sale in the coming years.
A subsidiary of Foxconn, the company that manufactures the iPhone, is also part of the deal. FIH Mobile is the firm that has actually picked up what’s left of Nokia from Microsoft, who bought the company in 2014 in a move that descended into disaster – failing to gain any real traction with their Lumia line before writing off billions of dollars relating to the acquisition.
Now FIH Mobile has paid around $350 million for what’s left and the three companies will form a partnership to build phones and tablets that will carry the Nokia brand.
“Today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the Nokia brand in an industry where Nokia remains a truly iconic name,” Ramzi Haidamus, president of Nokia Technologies, said.
“Instead of Nokia returning to manufacturing mobile phones itself, HMD plans to produce mobile phones and tablets that can leverage and grow the value of the Nokia brand in global markets. Working with HMD and FIH will let us participate in one of the largest consumer electronics markets in the world while staying true to our licensing business model.”
Nokia will even have a place on the board of HMD, and will set “mandatory brand requirements and performance-related provisions” for the new products that appear.
There’s no word yet on when we can expect to start seeing them, but new Nokia phones are definitely on the way.
