Once upon a time, but not too long ago, but definitely before the widespread proliferation of smartphone, there were Nokia phones. At that time, feature phones were the norm, and Nokia brand of phones were the crème de la crème of phones and were smartest of them all.
These phones could take a landing; I am talking about a multi-story fall, and you would walk down stairs and often find your phone in good condition albeit for some minor scraps here and there. A single full charge could at the very least take you five days, but reports of a Nokia phone lasting one week plus were not uncommon. Those were the days when phones were truly mobile phones, not these smart gizmos that regularly send you in search of wall power outlets.
That all went down the drain when Microsoft bought the company, and flushed out the Symbian operating system inside them and installed Windows OS; something that must grow on you to fully appreciate. While the hardware started becoming more and more like brightly colored bricks and with time the name Nokia, which began off as Nokia Lumia was completely phased out and replaced with Microsoft Lumia.
That would have been okay if they had maintained the same level of excitement and contentment as Nokia had, but that was never the case. Little by little, other OEMs started chewing into Nokia’s market segment. With the advent of Android that became widespread fast, with some retailing so cheaply but had numerous designs, hardware, and functionality to suit different needs and class. Microsoft’s devices (previous Nokia) had no fighting chance.
Well, it seems Nokia might just pull a Lazarus and resurrect back into the market. There are reports that Nokia has licensed a Finnish Company, HMD to sell phones for the next ten years using its brand name. Although the devices will be made by FIH, a subsidiary of FoxConn, they will not be made using Nokia Technologies (which is currently the only remaining part of Nokia as we previously knew it).
Instead, Nokia will get royalty payments in exchange for letting HMD use its name, and to ensure the Nokia brand name is not tarnished by knockoffs. Nokia is going to scrutinize the devices made to ensure it lives up to the name.
Arto Nummela, HMD’s CEO-in-waiting said, “We will be completely focused on creating a unified range of Nokia-branded mobile phones and tablets, which we know will resonate with consumers. Branding has become a critical differentiator in mobile phones, which is why our business model is centered on the unique asset of the Nokia brand and our extensive experience in sales and marketing.”
However, HMD will be taking up the Nokia name and hopefully its top-notch hardware standards, but that is just about it. Don’t expect a new Nokia make running Symbian OS; instead, HMD will fit its Nokia devices with Android, (no surprise there).
