Nokia reaffirmed that it currently has no plans to manufacture or sell consumer handsets. The statement by Nokia came after rumours started spreading that the company has plans to manufacture handsets in its R&D facility in China and wants to sell phones at the end of 2016.
To clear the air, Nokia has officially released a press statement,
Nokia notes recent news reports claiming the company communicated an intention to manufacture consumer handsets out of a R&D facility in China. These reports are false, and include comments incorrectly attributed to a Nokia Networks executive. Nokia reiterates it currently has no plans to manufacture or sell consumer handsets.
It has been an year since Microsoft completed the acquisition of Nokia’s device unit. There has been numerous unconfirmed reports floating that company might enter the handsets business anytime during the year of 2016 – the term after Nokia’s branding agreement with Microsoft ends.
In the other news, 2 weeks ago, Nokia announced that it is buying Alcatel-Lucent for $16.6 billion to widen its telecom expertise and to compete against Ericsson – another telecom leader. The recent acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent by Nokia clearly indicates that it is focussing entirely into telecom and network equipment manufacturing sector.
Nokia is restricted by its agreement with Microsoft not to use “Nokia” brand on phones until Q4 2016. The new brand-licensed tablet computer called “Nokia N1” was produced under license by Taiwan’s Foxconn, with an intention to follow up with more devices.
The official statement coming from the Nokia about having no plans to be in the consumer handsets business has put brakes to all the rumours.
