HELSINKI: The former mobile phone manufacturing company Nokia has declared reports in Chinese media wrong and false that it planned to return to manufacturing phones.
“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,” the company said in a statement on its website.
The company clarified that “Nokia reiterates it currently has no plans to manufacture or sell consumer handsets.”
But Nokia hinted that it is looking into returning to the smartphones business by brand-licensing.
It is pertinent to mention here that Nokia had sold its phone business to Microsoft last year, but just months after that it launched a new brand-licensed tablet computer, with an intention to follow up with more devices.
Nokia has agreed with Microsoft that it will not enter the mobile phone business before 2016.
Nokia recently announced a takeover of France’s Alcatel-Lucent, a bid to boost its mainstay network equipment business, and also said it could hive off its map business, which has reportedly drawn interest from carmakers as well as Facebook and online taxi service Uber.
