[vEEP pEEP]

Oh boy,

I just read that Nokia might make phones again:

Nokia Android phones: Release date set for 2016, report says | BGR

I love Nokia hardware (thus the love of my 930) and hope they come back to WP as phone. I moved to WP because Nokia went that route. The transition from Symbian was pretty easy. And I really like WP - it's pretty slick, operates well and looks great.

Then again - a lot of MS apps are available on Android and are supposedly better than the WP version.

Any Android/WP converts back up this claim.

What to do if this comes to fruition? Since I usually hang on to a phone for 3-4 years - I have a lot of time to think.

Mr. V

[Laura Knotek]

From the original source:

Even if the Nokia name comes back to the phone business, don’t expect Nokia to launch huge new manufacturing operations. It just sold those to Microsoft and isn’t eager to replicate them.

Instead, the N1 serves as a model of what the company hopes to do: Design cool products and then license the designs and Nokia brand to a company that will not only do the manufacturing, but also be responsible for sales and distribution. It’s similar to the approach taken by Kodak and Polaroid after those companies emerged from bankruptcy.


While licensing the brand to someone else reduces cost, it also leaves the success of those products at least partly out of Nokia’s control.


Plus, the smartphone business is a brutally tough one, and even companies pouring tens of millions of dollars per year into research and marketing have trouble standing out from the pack, as Nokia has already learned the hard way. Developing cool product concepts is one thing; committing the resources to make them successes in the market is quite another.

I wouldn't be confident buying another Nokia-branded device, since I'd be concerned about build quality (it would be outsourced, as they don't own any manufacturing facilities) and support. I'd be more inclined to go with Nexus, Motorola or Samsung for an Android device.

I also doubt if Nokia would return to Windows Phone, since they sold that division to Microsoft, and they'd still need to outsource manufacturing, whether they made Androids, Windows Phones or something completely different.

[hotphil]

I think the days of knowing the label on the box indicates a solely-owned manufacturing plant are long gone. And it started long before Apple (although they're the one that probably brought hi-tech manufacturing outsourcing to the public eye).
It's just not cost-effective to tool up a full on manufacturing/assembly plant. It's massive hit on some accountant's spreadsheet somewhere. There might be a couple of exceptions - Sammy perhaps have the heft to justify it.
The one that springs to mind is HTC. They were manufacturing unbranded and lovely carrier-branded devices long before they went direct to consumer. And I could be wrong, but I seem to recall they even made some units for Motorola (MPx200 rings a bell).
Which makes judging build quality that much harder these days - you can't really be sure which fab line it rolled off.

[djeire84]

From the original source:


I wouldn't be confident buying another Nokia-branded device, since I'd be concerned about build quality (it would be outsourced, as they don't own any manufacturing facilities) and support. I'd be more inclined to go with Nexus, Motorola or Samsung for an Android device.

I also doubt if Nokia would return to Windows Phone, since they sold that division to Microsoft, and they'd still need to outsource manufacturing, whether they made Androids, Windows Phones or something completely different.

It was a sad day when Nokia and Windows parted ways. Oh Symbian I do miss it. Pure and simple no confusion and also smooth. I wonder would symbian delve into the smartphone OS market. Yes thats why I went to Nokia as my Lumia 520 was an affordable Nokia and I had many nokias, my dads company only had Nokia phones given to his employees. He has now since diverted to Samsung as the Nokia brand of phones ceased trading. Nokia definitely connected people and I'm glad I have Nokia emblazoned on my phones face.

[Laura Knotek]

The one that springs to mind is HTC. They were manufacturing unbranded and lovely carrier-branded devices long before they went direct to consumer.

That reminds me of Dell. Dell PCs used to be mail-order. A consumer would choose his hardware, and Dell would build the PC and ship it to the consumer's house.

[hotphil]

Dell were one of the pioneers of JIT production, as I understand it. And got so good at it, it was hard for others to compete in that space. Clever stuff.

[fatclue_98]

The odds of Pat Riley welcoming LeBron back to the Heat are better than Nokia making WP devices again. Just my opinion.