Nokia’s Impending Comeback: Strategizing a Return to the Mobile Phone Market in 2016

Four years ago, Stephen Elop, the then-CEO of the iconic Finnish electronics company, Nokia, candidly likened the company’s predicament to a man teetering on the edge of a burning platform. Once the uncontested powerhouse of the mobile phone landscape, Nokia had fallen behind, having failed to grasp the seismic shift in the market instigated by the formidable newcomers, Apple and Google.

Reflecting on the past, the infamous “burning platform” memo Elop dispatched can be viewed as a poignant prologue to the 2013 divestiture of Nokia’s once dominant mobile handset division to Microsoft – an event many Finns saw as an unfortunate fire sale. The operation responsible for ubiquitous candy-bar phones, arguably as prominent at that time as the sleek iPhone is today, ceased to exist.

Given the company’s turbulent history, it comes as a surprise that Nokia has been subtly strategizing a re-entry into the consumer mobile market.

Behind closed doors, the company is gearing up to make a foray back into phone business as early as next year, according to insiders privy to Nokia’s vision. Furthermore, the once dominant mobile company is channeling its efforts into other ambitious technological endeavors, including ventures into the exciting realm of virtual reality, sources have revealed.

This impressive leap of faith is, largely, driven by the Nokia Technologies – the most petite of the three units that remained alive after the Microsoft deal, stands side by side with its mapping and network equipment businesses. Nokia Technologies, famously recognized for the arm that licenses the company’s prolific portfolio of more than 10,000 patents.

Challenging the prevalent stereotype of patent houses merely licensing intellectual property, Nokia Technologies sets itself apart. The division has been innovating new products and facilitating their licensing to other corporations. So far, we’ve only witnessed the fruits of these ambitions on a smaller scale. The division has unveiled only two products: Zlauncher, an inventive Android application, and the N1, an Android tablet design licensed to another manufacturer who is marketing it under Nokia’s auspice in China. It’s possible that their return to the market will see a continuation of such tactics.

However, insiders are buzzing that these two products are merely a tantalizing taste of what’s to come.

“They have a heap of thrilling developments in the pipeline,” shared Richard Kerris, a former Nokia executive who continued to consult for the company until last year as part of his final startup. “What I saw instilled in me a robust assurance that Nokia is far from disappearing,” he added. While Kerris refrained from spilling any specifics, he tantalizingly mentioned that upcoming products would stun consumers and competitors alike.

Resurrection

Off-the-record chats with those close to Nokia paint a phantom image, strikingly disparate from the prevalent notion of the brand as a fallen technology behemoth. While Nokia has maintained a dignified silence, a contract with Microsoft that forbids the selling of any phones under the Nokia emblem or licensing the brand for use in phones until at least the third quarter of next year hasn’t deterred them. Nokia is readying itself for a dramatic comeback, plotting a resurgence after the contract’s expiry. Notably, the company is bolstering its workforce and diligently working on products to unveil next year and beyond.

Keen to know more? Stay updated with the latest on Nokia’s strategic moves here.