After rumors sparked up last week that Nokia has plans to get back into the phone business, the Finnish company today made the unusual move of publicly discrediting those claims. In a brief message posted to its website, Nokia says that it “reiterates it currently has no plans to manufacture or sell consumer handsets.” It adds, “These reports are false, and include comments incorrectly attributed to a Nokia Networks executive.”
It’s been a year since Microsoft closed the deal to purchase Nokia’s phone business, but that hasn’t stopped murmurs that Nokia would some day throw its hat back into the ring. Recode stoked the fire last week with a report that Nokia has plans to reenter the consumer handset market as soon as next year. The report was based on two unnamed sources familiar with the company’s plans.
Whatever Nokia’s plans may or may not be, the company is restricted by its agreement with Microsoft not to use its brand on phones until Q4 2016. And, based on earlier comments from the company, it seems much more likely that any future “Nokia” phones will be devices made in partnership with other manufacturers who simply license the name.
