Thought: Will Nokia smartphones make another comeback? The signs are there

The Finnish legend itself has not been manufacturing smartphones since the infamous era associated with American Microsoft. Nevertheless, we could still see phones with this logo on store shelves long after this inglorious fall, thanks to the partnership with HMD Global. However, this has not been the case for some time now, and HMD is trying, so far not very successfully, under its own logo. Nevertheless, there is still hope that we will once again encounter smartphones with the famous logo on their backs. The question is, does anyone actually still care?

“Nokia” is not “Nokia”

It is probably unnecessary to remind that the current, “the real”, Nokia focuses primarily on its network business. In the field of consumer electronics, it is primarily involved as a license provider, participating minimally, if at all, in the actual development. In the past, it lent its name not only to the aforementioned HMD Global. For example, smart TVs and multimedia centers from Streamview, laptops manufactured by OFF Global, and last but not least, headphones and other accessories from RitchGo, entered the market under its name. However, all these partnerships are now in the past, and recently, the Finnish Nokia has not been doing so well, as evidenced by the continuously declining operating profit for three consecutive years, which the company admitted in its reports.

This, after all, recently led to speculations about the sale of the network division to South Korean Samsung. However, Nokia vehemently denied them. In any case, it is no wonder that little was needed to spark speculation about possible further partnerships of the Finns in hardware manufacturing. Specifically, behind all this is Nokia’s community manager and his post on the Nokia sub-reddit. In it, he mentions that Nokia would not be averse to collaborating with a large mobile phone manufacturer. On the one hand, it would certainly make sense that Nokia wants to maximize its name and this gives a chance for the return of Nokia smartphones.

On the other hand, however, we must ask ourselves whether its name still truly carries enough weight to be beneficial to someone. Perhaps in the case of some Chinese OEMs (i.e., companies that manufacture mobile phones for well-known brands) who would like to enter the consumer market themselves but lack a sufficiently strong name? I could also imagine someone like Transsion, behind Tecno and Infinix smartphones, taking the brand under their wing. It is a strong, constantly growing manufacturer with a good technological base, for whom a well-known name could be beneficial in Western markets, thus ensuring a potentially successful return of Nokia smartphones.

Do you think Nokia smartphones will make another comeback? And who could take over their manufacturing?

Source: GSMArena.com