Nokia denies making phones again

The Finnish Nokia denies that it will make phones again. Under the agreement with Microsoft, it may start selling smartphones again from January 2016, but the current director rejects that option for the time being.

Nokia will no longer make devices, but is considering lending its brand name to other manufacturers, CEO Rajeev Suri said at an investor meeting according to an analyst. Rumors of a Nokia comeback in the phone market have been going on for months. The Finnish company sold its telephone business to Microsoft earlier this year.

Suri did not elaborate on what lending the Nokia brand name to other manufacturers would look like. Presumably, other unnamed manufacturers can put the Nokia name on their device under certain conditions in order to try to sell more of it.

Nokia is not currently a phone maker. It does have an R&D arm that seems to focus on wearables, a map service division Here, and a business unit that sells network services and equipment. It has made a profit again since the sale of the telephone branch.