Stefan Mileschin

Former rubber boot maker Nokia confirmed that it may start designing and licensing mobile phone handsets under its brand name in 2016.

Nokia has not made any smartphones since selling that part of its business to Microsoft in 2014. Vole was unable to make any cash from it and wrote off most of its investment last week.

Under the deal Nokia had with Microsoft it would not be allowed to sell smartphones under its own name until 2016. Microsoft had long planned to ship phones under its own name by that point.

Microsoft had hoped that the Nokia sale would allow it to make up for its late entry into the mobile market. However that, along with an abortive attempt to mobilise Windows turned out to be a disaster.

Nokia said it was looking for a partner who would take on the manufacturing, sales, marketing and customer support for the products. There is no indication what operating system it will be using.

http://www.techeye.net/mobile/nokia-...to-smartphones