Well, I guess it was too much to hope for anyway. The rumors that popped up a few days ago claiming that Nokia may be re-entering the smartphone business as early as next year have turned out to be false. The Finish company made a short but very clear statement earlier today which clarified that it “currently has no plans to manufacture or sell consumer handsets.”
The statement refers to a story posted on a China-based website on Friday that allegedly quoted the head of Nokia in that country. That report said Nokia would being making Android-based smartphones in one of its Chinese facilities. The report got enough traction on the Internet that Nokia issued a special statement on Sunday that flat out denied the Chinese report: “Nokia notes recent news reports claiming the company communicated an intention to manufacture consumer handsets out of a R&D facility in China. These reports are false, and include comments incorrectly attributed to a Nokia Networks executive. Nokia reiterates it currently has no plans to manufacture or sell consumer handsets.” While Nokia may have denied the content in the Chinese news story, there are other reports that claim the company is still planning to return to the smartphone market sometime in 2016. The company sold off its devices and services division to Microsoft back in 2014, but under the deal Microsoft has the rights to use the Nokia brand until 2016.