Nokia

[CityFarmer]

I am skeptical on Nokia back to the mobile market...

Nokia bounces back with launch of Android tablet

HELSINKI — Nokia is back in the fray.

Just months after selling its ailing handsets unit to Microsoft, the Finnish company is launching a tablet.

The new offering operates Android instead of the Windows software that Nokia adopted on its cellphones when it started a strategic partnership with Microsoft in 2011.

The 7.9-inch (20cm) N1 tablet has an aluminium body. It includes an Intel Corp. processor and the Lollipop version of Android. On top of that, it runs Nokia’s Z Launcher interface software, which predicts and highlights the apps consumers are likely to want based on time of day and location, according to a report by Bloomberg.
It will first be available in China in the first quarter of 2015 with an approximate price tag of US$250 (S$325), before being introduced to other markets.
...
http://www.todayonline.com/tech/nokia-bo...oid-tablet

[LionFlyer]

A product isn't a strategy, even if it turns out to be a good one because the life-cycle is short.

[corydorus]

There are probably "101 companies" that can sell their own android tablet that is really no big deal. They can be done by a design house, outsourced to oem for assembly and re-branded to any you wise with some mechanical ID tweaks. Tablets are so "commoditized" that you can have say Creative, SIA, Ministry of Education etc to have their own logo pasted on it with unit volume like 10K-50K fixed sku.

Actually if the government want, they can even assemble a small team to do just that and distributed to all schools, military, etc at cost.

[CityFarmer]

Nokia will be back. Nokia brand still has a value among mobile users. Nokia should fully leverage on the brand name, before it is eroded over time...

(not vested)

Nokia confirms plans to re-enter mobile phone market

HELSINKI — Finnish telecoms equipment maker Nokia, once the world’s biggest manufacturer of mobile phones, confirmed late on Monday that it might start designing and licensing mobile phones under its brand name next year.

Nokia said it was looking for a partner who would take on the manufacturing, sales, marketing and customer support for the products. “We will look for the right partner who can take on the heavy lifting.”

The company said that a Nokia mobile phone would not reach the market before the fourth quarter of next year, when Nokia’s agreement with its partner Microsoft allows it to use the brand name again.
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http://www.todayonline.com/tech/nokia-co...one-market

[CityFarmer]

Nokia is restarted, without the burden of legacy...

Nokia plotting a return to consumer business

FRANKFURT/HELSINKI — Nokia is hiring software experts, testing new products and seeking sales partners as it plots its return to the mobile-phone and consumer-technology arena it abandoned with the sale of its handset business.

Once the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones, the Finnish firm was wrongfooted by the rise of smartphones and eclipsed by Apple and Samsung.

It sold its handset business to Microsoft in late 2013, and has since focused squarely on making telecommunications network equipment.

Now, Nokia boss Rajeev Suri is planning a comeback. He must wait until late next year before he can consider re-entering the handset business — after a non-compete deal with Microsoft expires — but preparations are under way.
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http://www.todayonline.com/tech/nokia-pl...r-business

[corydorus]

I say good luck to him. Unless you can do it on the premium segment like Apple and Samsung, the business will be tough.

[cyclone]

Nokia's Classic 3310 Phone Is Back, Thanks to HMD

Finnish company HMD Global Oy unveiled a range of new phones, including a redesign of the classic Nokia 3310, in a bid to win back mobile consumers.

Two new smartphones, the Nokia 3 and Nokia 5, are set to come to market in the second quarter, HMD executives said Sunday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The phones will run Google’s Android operating system and Google Assist, and will retail for 139 euros ($147) and 189 euros, respectively. HMD also showcased the re-release of the Nokia 3310, a lower-cost feature phone first sold just under 17 years ago.

The release is the first major push by HMD to revive Nokia’s glory days as a global mobile producer. After the collapse in its fortunes, Nokia Oyj sold the business to Microsoft Corp. in 2014, and staffing in mobile-phone operations in Finland fell to under 1,000, from more than 24,000.

More details in https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...-consumers