Say what? Nokia to launch an Android powered Tablet

Say what?? We hear Nokia is launching a “surprise” Android-powered tablet. This comes after Microsoft dropped the brand from its Smartphone which it acquired earlier this year. We reported just last week that Microsoft was going to release a Microsoft Lumia 535 which is a low end Windows based phone.

The new device called N1 tablet is due to go on sale in China towards the start of 2015, ahead of other countries. Nokia will not be making this device by itself but has rather licensed it brand, design and software to a third party and this licensee is the Taiwanese manufacturer Foxcomm.
“This is a great product for Nokia fans and everyone who has not found the right Android tablet yet,” Mr Sebastian Nystrom who is the head of products at Nokia said. He made this product announcement at the Slush technology conference in Helsinki.

The N1 will be Android 5.0 powered (lollipop) and will have an Intel Atom processor as well as a Micro-USB slot. The tablet is billed to go on sale for $249/ about ₦44,000.

Let me add that this strategy by Nokia not to be fully involved with this product manufacturing of this product is advantageous because the company can reclaim some its lost glory in the smart device world without having to worry so much about various product manufacturing processes like supply chain management and distribution.

My take

I think the smartphone market will continue to grow especially in emerging economies and Nokia stands a chance. I don’t see how this would potentially pit them against Microsoft. The brand name has officially been dropped and the only choice Nokia is left with is to do what they have just done with this announcement.
I think the pricing is good as well and may attract customers. I’m yet to see the “wow” factor in the product though but all the same, we’ll see how it goes.

You bet I’ll update you on this as events unfold.