Rumors can oftentimes be contagious, spreading from one agency to hundreds, and while spreading the sources can sometimes be muddled. What started as a hint or query could turn into actual fact – something that has happened with Nokia’s return to the mobile industry.
To clear things up, Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri has confirmed the new services’ company has no plans to re-enter the mobile market, when the agreement between Microsoft and Nokia ends in Q4 2016.
The agreement, signed in conjunction with the $7.2 billion sale of Nokia’s mobile division, said that Nokia would not be able to make mobiles until Q4 2016. This includes low and high-end, and is void of software platform.
There have been hints and glimmers of hope that once this agreement ends, Nokia will step back into the industry, now armed with the knowledge that Android is the way to go. Without ex-CEO Stephen Elop to push them in the wrong direction, they will be solid.
However, this is more of a pipe-dream than fact. Nokia has – for many years – been losing money in the mobile industry. The removal of the mobile division has brought the company back into profit, with strong revenues boosting the company’s shares.
Nokia has no intention of re-creating the scene from two years ago, where the company struggled to make Windows Phone’s competitive against Android and iOS. They want to be successful in other areas, like services and networking.
CEO Rajeev Suri explained what the future holds, including various improvements to the HERE Maps platform, a mapping service currently licensed to Yahoo, Microsoft and other companies.
Nokia will also work on new networking technologies, its main butter-and-bread when it comes to revenue. The patents Nokia holds in networking are still worth millions, especially the 4G and 5G patents, which Microsoft, Samsung and others license.
However, Suri did give a small hint, saying that the Nokia hardware brand might return in some form. Nokia would not own the factories, it would not own hardware workers, but it might employ Chinese companies like Foxconn to make consumer electronics in 2016.
