Nokia may re-enter smartphone market with premium devices

Nokia has reasserted its plan to re-enter the smartphone market — a plan that has been in the pipeline for quite some time — although questions remain about the exact timeline. In July 2015, the Finnish smartphone maker confirmed its plan just a month after chief executive officer Rajeev Suri said the company would look for suitable partners.

At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2016 in Barcelona, Suri has reiterated the company's plan to sell smartphones. "There is no timeline, there's no rush. It could happen in 2016, it could happen later," Suri told a press meet as quoted by CNET.

"We want to be in a position to design the device in question with appropriate control measures in case they don't meet expectations," said Suri. When asked about whether Nokia would partner with Foxconn, Suri said he did not know yet.

Nokia sold its Device & Service (NDS) business to Microsoft in 2014. Earlier, Nokia said it would return to the market, "in a completely different way from before," that is through the "brand-licensing" model, for which it was looking for a partner.

Robert Morlino, the spokesman for Nokia Technologies, had then said: "If and when we find a world-class partner who can take on those responsibilities, we would work closely with them to guide the design and technology differentiation, as we did with the Nokia N1 Android tablet. That's the only way the bar would be met for a mobile device we'd be proud to have bear the Nokia brand, and that people will love to buy."

Nokia believes it has the potential to create a stir in the smartphone market and for that the company is likely to aim at a "premium device". According to Suri, "The recognition of the brand is still very high in all major markets. We think it's a good business model."