Nokia May Be Readying Its Comeback on Smartphone Market

Since Nokia’s mobile division changed owner a couple of months ago, the Finnish company is looking for new ways to improve its income. The Nokia brand is still strong in some parts of the world, despite the fact that the company is not involved in the mobile phone business anymore.

Currently, Nokia is split in three subsidiaries, each of these in different fields of activity: Nokia Networks, HERE and Nokia Technologies. One of the most prolific of the three, Nokia Networks, seems to bring the highest income, but HERE is likely to become a solid source of profit very soon (if not already). HERE is one of Nokia’s current businesses, which is active in the mapping and location domain. HERE technology, praised by Windows Phone users and Nokia fans alike, is based on the cloud-computing model, which means that, regardless of what operating system one uses to access these services, they will be available. In the last couple of weeks, Nokia made some interesting moves that could be defined as attempts, even if weak, to enter the mobile phone market once again.

Even though HERE is a mobile business per se, as the company’s mapping and location services are now available on Windows Phone, Android and iOS mobile platforms, the company does not have a hardware component, so there are no physical products available. But what if Nokia started producing physical products like smartphones, smartwatches, or other mobile accessories that would help the company rebuild the giant that it once was? The recent job listings from LinkedIn confirm that Nokia is now looking to hire people that would help the company launch new consumer products, both “physical and digital.” Here is one of the job posts that was recently spotted on LinkedIn:

“Nokia is establishing a new businesses built on Nokia innovation, focusing on physical and digital products and services for consumers directly or through other customer companies. We have already identified a number of product opportunities where we can make a difference in the market in areas aligned with our vision and where our brand makes a difference, and we continue to look for new opportunities where we can win.”

Another sign that might point to Nokia’s comeback on the mobile phone market is the fact that the company has recently released an Android application called Z Launcher, which seems to be very popular among users. The Z Launcher is the work of a small team that thought that the Android launchers available in Google Play Store were not doing enough for users, so they developed their own solution. If Nokia is really still thinking at the smartphone market, this means only one thing: the Finnish company is readying its comeback. If and when that might happen is still a mystery, but I have a feeling that we will know more about Nokia’s plans for the mobile phone market by the end of this year.

I doubt the company will continue to put Windows Phone on its first devices, if there will be such devices, so the only viable way to gain some traction on the smartphone market would be to launch something based on Android OS. Either way, the first step is the most important one. It’s the thing that will define Nokia’s fate and its chance to grab the top spot in the smartphone business again. I do hope Nokia is not yet finished with mobile phones, but I’m well aware that a comeback is hard to achieve so soon. However, I’ll be watching this space and be amazed by what Nokia’s engineers manage to come up with in the future. I suggest Nokia fans to do the same, as the company may still have a few surprises under its sleeve.

Nokia products
Image credits to Nokia

Posted in: Mobile Phone, News