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Nokia has issued a statement refuting reports that it has plans to return to the smartphone market. This comes as Chinese news sources are claiming that the Finnish company is preparing to sell devices through an R&D facility in China.
A statement on the company website reads, “Nokia notes recent news reports claiming the company communicated an intention to manufacture consumer handsets out of a R&D facility in China. These reports are false, and include comments incorrectly attributed to a Nokia Networks executive.
Nokia reiterates it currently has no plans to manufacture or sell consumer handsets.”
Nokia is unable to sell any smartphones under the terms of the agreement when it sold its devices division to Microsoft. However, the company is likely to continue looking for avenues to license its brand out to third party manufacturers; much like how it has done for the N1 tablet. It is very likely that there will be future Nokia smartphone, only one that is manufactured by someone else.
The company has been working on expanding its telecommunications hardware solutions in order to compete with companies like Ericsson and Huawei. A recent merger with Alcatel-Lucent points to Nokia preparing to focus its efforts on the telco industry instead of devices.
That being said, never say never; and there is always a chance that the company could have a change of heart.
[Source: Nokia]
