Microsoft completed the purchase of Nokia’s Devices & Services division nearly a year ago. The Redmond-based giant acquired all of the hardware designs for Nokia’s range of Windows Phone-powered Lumia smartphones and now builds its own Microsoft Lumia branded phones with what it gained from Nokia.
Microsoft currently holds exclusive rights to the Nokia name on smartphones and has continued to release some Lumias with Nokia branding after the purchase of the company. There have been several murmurings that Nokia will return to the smartphone market in 2016 when this license expires.
As the International Business Times reports, Mike Wang, Nokia’s president of operations in China, has now hinted to the Sichuan Daily that Nokia will indeed be launching some new devices next year. They will be built at a brand-new plant in Sichuan.
Nokia has launched one device since Microsoft bought the famous name. The N1 tablet is powered by Google’s Android operating system and is currently available in China only. It will make its way to Europe soon.
A new Nokia phone is rumoured to be called the C1 and will also run Android 5.0 Lollipop. It is thought to be powered by a quad-core Intel processor with a clock speed of 2.8GHz and will have 3GB RAM, a 5-inch 1080p display and a competitive 20.1MP camera.
The return to smartphones marks Nokia’s resurgence as a regenerated brand. After the sale of Lumia to Microsoft, the company has been concentrating on its telecom business, developing and testing 5G mobile technologies in Finland. The HERE Maps department has also seen attention although Nokia is reportedly in talks with companies including Facebook and Apple to sell this.
Nokia has also recently announced a merger with French telecoms giant Alcatel-Lucent (not to be confused with smartphone brand Alcatel OneTouch). With so many changes happening within the Finnish mobile king, the result of the company’s labours and subsequent return to smartphone manufacturing should be interesting to see next year.