After selling out to Microsoft, Nokia is believed to re-enter to the smartphones industry as leaked images of its controversial first Android-powered phablet Nokia C1 surface. There are rumors regarding Nokia's partnership with Foxconn to market the new device, along with its plans to create its own operating system (OS).
Microsoft bought Nokia back in 2014, reducing transaction costs to produce better phones. The acquisition contract between the two companies restricts Nokia from making and selling smartphones until 2016. However, Nokia has found a breach in the contract and formed its strategy of licensing its designs to third-party manufacturers who will produce the device.
The claim of Nokia finding its way back to making phones is recently backed up by leaked photos from Chinese sources posted on Twitter. According to the International Business Times, two images showed the device close-up, revealing the rumored Nokia C1 phone to be mid-range level.
The Nokia C1 displays a thin body that takes after the iPhone 6. It is assumed to have a 5" display screen with 1280 x 720 resolution. It will allegedly come with 2GB RAM and an Intel Atom chipset. As for camera specifications, the Nokia C1 will sport an 8 MP camera at the back, and a 5 MP selfie snapper at the front.
The leaked images also showed the Nokia C1 running on a modified version of Android Lollipop with its own Z launcher. The C1 phone looked physically similar to the company's N1 tablet released in 2014 which also ran on Android.
Nokia is presumed to work with a third-party manufacturer called Foxconn in producing the Nokia C1. Nokia will license the design to Foxconn who will be chiefly responsible to create and sell the phone as reported by Opptrends.
Although the company first denies making a second entrance to the smartphone market, CEO Rjeev Suri says otherwise. Knowing that it would be hard to match up to the contemporary phone giants, Nokia plans to target the second-tier phone market especially in less-developed countries.
G for Games reports that Nokia is supposed to also have plans in building its own OS, according to Berstein Research analyst Pierre Ferragu. He says that engineers familiar with Android software are being sought by the company. Ferragu further stipulates the possibility of Nokia being in the lead of budget phones due to its wide brand reach.
However, the Nokia OS is another story. Ferragu is skeptic about Nokia entering this market long dominated by Apple's iOS and Google's Android as well as Windows and Blackberry OS. Still, if done right, Nokia might convince LG and Samsung to ditch Google for their OS instead.
Since Nokia's brand name is known almost everywhere, the company's re-entry to the phone market may become a success. Nokia-branded phones may be the next cheaper alternative to higher-end phones. This is a possibility for the Nokia N1 which is expected for release this November.
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