Nokia's smartphone plans for 2016 apparently confirmed: Handsets to be manufactured in new Sichuan R&D unit

Nokia priority stores rebranded — Nokia will set up a brand-new R&D centre in Sichuan for the manufacture of exclusive smartphones Reuters

Finland-based Nokia, which not so long ago let US-based Microsoft take over its devices and services business, was for long rumoured to launch an exclusively branded smartphone after its license agreement with Microsoft ended in 2016.

Now, the Finnish-based company has confirmed it will be launching its own exclusive smartphones next year.

According to a GforGames report, that in turn quotes the Sichuan Daily, Mike Wang president of Nokia's operations in China has indicated that his company will set up a brand-new R&D centre in Sichuan for the manufacture of exclusive smartphones.

However, confirmation of the OS in Nokia's expected smartphones have not surfaced as yet; which means it is not known whether Nokia's exclusive handsets will run Android or other OSes.

As of now, rumours hint at the possibility of Nokia's 2016 smartphones being driven by Google's Android operating platform. At this point in time, it is worth remembering that Nokia's first tablet the Nokia N1, which was launched post Microsoft's acquisition of its mobile devices division, runs the newer Google Android 5.0 (Lollipop) straight out of the box.

This Nokia tablet is currently available for purchase in China and is slated to reach European shores shortly.

Very recently, Nokia and peer Alcatel-Lucent announced a new merger, under which Nokia will make an offer for all of the equity securities issued by Alcatel-Lucent, through a public exchange offer in France and in the United States, on the basis of 0.55 of a new Nokia share for every Alcatel-Lucent share.

Nokia is also said to be looking at selling off its popular HERE maps, and social networking giant Facebook, technology giant Apple and other major companies are said to be interested in making a purchase.

As far as Nokia's 2016 smartphone is concerned (rumoured to be called Nokia C1), the handset is thought to come incorporated with the following key technical specifications: