Back in 2013, Nokia sold off its handset division to Microsoft. This was the division responsible for manufacturing the Lumia line of smartphones and all other Nokia branded devices. These devices now fall under Microsoft with the purchase. When selling its handset unit to Microsoft, Nokia agreed not to re-enter the handset market until 2016.
With 2016 around the corner, Nokia is believed to be preparing to make a comeback into the smartphone market. Keep in mind Nokia has not said anything about this yet.
Read More: Nokia Is Not Planning a Comeback into the Smartphone Market
We have been hearing about this for some time now and the latest developments just show us how serious the company is. According to Reuters, Nokia is already hiring new employees as it prepares for the comeback. The new employees the company is looking for include software engineers familiar with Android. The company is also looking for partners to deal with the sale of new mobile devices.
Nokia’s Attraction to Android
Nokia has already tried its luck with Android before. Even before the mobile division was acquired by Microsoft, Nokia already had the Nokia X devices that were powered by Android. These devices never took off and most people thought that Microsoft acquired Nokia’s handset division just to kill them off.
After Microsoft’s acquisition, Nokia released the Nokia N1 tablet which is an Android based tablet available in very few markets. Launching the N1 tablets was seen as a way for Nokia to taste the waters as it prepares for a comeback. There is also the Nokia Z Launcher which just showed how interested Nokia was/is with Android.
The Future of Nokia
Even with the future in the handset market, Nokia will not be making its own devices for now. The company will be using other manufacturers including Foxconn to do this. Foxconn is the same company that manufactured Nokia N1 tablet. With such a partnership, Nokia will be designing the devices while Foxconn handles the manufacturing. This is a low risk move with low profits but it can work very well.
It looks like Nokia will not be returning to the Windows Phone family after all and this raises very many questions. The first one is, did Microsoft buyout Nokia’s handset division because Nokia wanted to ditch Windows Phone altogether? Is there bad blood between Nokia and Microsoft?
My guess in this situation is, Nokia wanted to move to Android completely and this did not settle well with Microsoft as this is their in house OS and they knew that the departure of Nokia would have killed Windows Phone completely. That is why Microsoft decided to acquire Nokia’s handset division to keep things in house and avoid any disappointments.
Keep it here to be informed on Nokia and Microsoft’s moves.
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