Nokia officially confirms it will return to smartphones

Nokia is now officially set to return to smartphones. The former mobile leader will launch its new line of smartphones next year. Nokia confirmed the return via its presentation at the Capital Markets Day event.

The Finnish electronics company will announce the details of its new smartphones at Mobile World Congress 2017. HMD Global, the company that has recently acquired Nokia’s commercial licenses for the next 10 years, is also set to appear at the event. Mobile World Congress 2017 will be held at Barcelona between February 27 and March 2.

Nokia itself will not be manufacturing the new smartphones though. According to GSMArena, Nokia shall only oversee the development of the new handsets along with the ownership of the brand and its patents. HMD Global will be the one to create the new phones with the support of Foxconn's research, development and manufacturing expertise.

HMD Global was co-founded by former Nokia executives Arto Nummela and Florian Seiche. The company will reportedly spend at least €500 million (AU$721 million) on the marketing and promotion of the new Nokia handsets in the first three years. With that proactive approach, the Nokia brand will certainly make waves and take an ample slice out of the mobile industry pie.

James Rutherfoord, CEO of mobile device commodities at Microsoft Asia, was mentioned in a Vietnamese publication last month saying that HMD Global aims to release two Nokia feature phones before the year ends. He was also quoted saying that at least two Nokia smartphones will be launched between January and June of next year.

Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia’s mobile division turned out to be a colossal letdown for both corporations. The last smartphone released by Nokia was the Lumia 638, which was launched nearly two years ago. It has since been producing feature phones exclusively, with Nokia 216 being the most recent, released in October.