In years past, Nokia was one of the biggest players in the cell phone market. As the world started to move away from regular cell phones to smartphones, Nokia got left behind, but started to claw back with the mobile Windows platform and some dabbling with Android-powered devices. All of that came to a grinding halt though when Microsoft bought out Nokia’s mobile device division. In a speech concerning a new R&D center for Nokia, Nokia China president Mike Wang appears to have confirmed that Nokia will return to the smartphone market in 2016 with Android-powered devices.
Wang was in Sichuan, China for an event announcing a new R&D center that Nokia is building in the country. This new facility will be Nokia’s new global headquarters for their R&D activity. In a surprise twist to his comments, Wang also indicated the Sichuan facility would eventually serve as the production base for new smartphone devices the company plans to release in 2016.
Sources think Nokia’s return is limited by the deal with Microsoft. When Nokia is released from any restrictions that were part of that deal, Wang says the company’s devices will likely be powered by Android. The combination of Android for the operating system and locating facilities in China suggest Nokia may be positioning itself to compete in that market with the likes of Xiaomi, Lenovo, Oppo and ZTE.
source: Sichuan Daily News
via: G for Games
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