DHAKA: After giving up on making phones, Nokia Corp. said it would return to the consumer market with a branded tablet computer—its first device since selling its faltering handset business to Microsoft Corp. earlier this year.
The tablet will be largely the work of others, built and distributed by a partner in China and powered by Google Inc.’s Android operating system, reports the Wall Street Journal.
However, it is not to compete head-to-head with the titans of the already-crowded tablet markets of the developed world: Nokia said the device, called the N1, will roll out early next year, first in China, and priced at the lower end of the tablet market, the report added.
But, the project represents the first in what Nokia executives describe as a low-cost, and low-stakes, effort to wring more money out of its vast store of mobile-related licensed technology and its still-attractive name brand.
A tiny team at Nokia—including a few brand licensers and a small group of hardware designers—was involved in developing the tablet, said Sebastian Nyström, who heads the product division at Nokia’s technology and patents unit.
The Finnish company has no ambitions to rebuild its vast manufacturing and distribution network, according to him.
“This is indeed a very lean and mean operation,” Nyström said. “In fact, it’s difficult to even compare it with the huge operation that used to be Nokia’s device business.”
The N1, unveiled Tuesday at a technology conference in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, will be manufactured in collaboration with Foxconn , known formally as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.
Nokia said it has licensed the Nokia brand name, industrial design and intellectual property to Foxconn “on a running royalty basis.”
Foxconn, which also assembles the bulk of the world’s iPhones for Apple Inc., is responsible for engineering, sales and customer care, as well as potential liabilities and warranty costs, Nokia said.
The device will retail for $249, excluding taxes, and will hit the Chinese market first, Nokia said, in time for the Lunar New Year holiday on Feb. 19. Nokia said it would reach shelves in other countries later.
The new tablet marks a humble return to the consumer market for Nokia, which in April this year transferred its unprofitable handset unit to Microsoft in a $6.9 billion deal.
The Nokia N1 tablet sports a 7.9-inch screen, a 2.4-gigahertz quad-core Intel Corp. processor and is 6.9 millimeters thick, Nokia said. The device runs the latest Lollipop version of Android. Like the iPad, it is constructed in a full-aluminum body.
The software will have a distinct Nokia touch, however: It will come with Nokia’s own Z Launcher preinstalled. In Android, so-called launchers are programs that tinker with the design and functionality of the home screen and application launcher. The Nokia Z allows users to do things like scribble letters on the device’s screen, to find quickly content and applications.
Mr. Nyström said the tablet is one of several consumer products Nokia has in the pipeline, as part of a wider brand-licensing program. He said, however, that Nokia aims to be careful not to overdo it.
“Some brands engage in very sloppy brand licensing, slapping their brand on any types of products,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of fans out there, especially in China, and our aim is to build the kinds of devices people have come to expect from Nokia.”
BDST: 1214 HRS, NOV 20, 2014
