After the selloff of its handset division to Microsoft (MSFT, Financial), Nokia (NOK, Financial) was reduced to a mere networking company with minimal customer interaction. When the Finnish company sold off its popular handset division and most prominent amongst them the Lumia to Microsoft, it eventually did put a full stop to its handset business. For years in the past, Nokia has been renowned around the globe for its sturdy handsets with a lengthy battery life. Even before the smartphone reign took over the mobile market, Nokia handsets were the most popular across the world and people having Nokia phones vouched on their durability.
But for reasons not very clear, Nokia did move this segment off its plate to the software giant Microsoft. Now, again Nokia is looking forward to re-entering the communication devices segment and is out to play its second innings to encash the lost brand value it had earned during its handset producing days. Let us take a closer peek into Nokia’s comeback plan.
The new tablet unveiled
Finland's Nokia launched a new brand-licensed tablet computer on last Tuesday which is designed to take a shot at Apple's (AAPL, Financial) iPad Mini, just six months after the company sold its phones and devices business to Microsoft for over $7 billion.
Nokia, a name which was once synonymous with mobile phones until Apple and Samsung (SSNLF, Financial) eclipsed the Finnish company with the reign of smartphones, disclosed that the manufacturing, distribution and sales of the new N1 tablet, would be operated under license by Taiwan's Foxconn.
N1 sporting intelligent features
The new N1 has an all-aluminum body powered by the latest Android system- the Google’s (GOOG, Financial) Android 5.0 Lollipop along with added features from Nokia's new Z Launcher’s intelligent home screen interface. It sports a 8 mega-pixel rear camera and is powered by a 64-bit 2.5 GHz Intel Atom Z3580 processor with a PowerVR G6430 graphics processing unit. Unlike the iPad mini of Apple which comes with 16GB, 32GB, 64GB and 128GB storage options, the N1 tablet only has a 32GB version as of now. Nokia’s phones are known for their battery life and the N1 comes with an 18.5 Wh battery.
Launching the first Nokia tablet and going forward
The first released Nokia tablet would be launched first in China in the first quarter of the next fiscal year aiming at targeting the largest population of the world and the subsequent launch in the other markets will then follow. It will be sporting a modest price tag of $249, quite reasonable if compared to iPad mini 3 which holds a $399 sticker price.
Sebastian Nystrom, the head of products at Nokia's Technologies unit, said during the N1 launch that “the company was looking to follow up with more devices and will also look into eventually returning to the smartphones business by brand-licensing.”
Nystrom further added- "With the agreement with Microsoft, as is customary, we have this transition and we can't do smartphones ... We have a time limit. In 2016 we can again enter that business. It would be crazy not to look at that opportunity. Of course we will look at it."
Till last week the Lumia smartphone series which was originally from the Nokia stable carried the name of Nokia, post which it are being named as Microsoft Lumia starting with the latest Lumia 535 which is powered by Windows 8 operating system. However the basic phones will still carry the brand name Nokia, which means that Nokia is already gaining mileage from their sales thereby setting the pitch for the upcoming tablet from Nokia.
When questioned last week by the media about rumors doing the rounds that Nokia was looking to re-enter the handset market, CEO Rajeev Suri, said that he was looking into ways to bring the brand back into the consumer market through licensing deals, and confirmed on the company’s outlook of a second stint as a B2C player starting with the new Nokia N1 tablet.
Final call on Nokia’s N1
It is definitely great news for the millions of Nokia device patrons who were quite disappointed of late when the handset division moved from Nokia umbrella into the Microsoft ambit. Obviously this piece of news will create a positive impact on Nokia’s financial number mix. It is often hard for a company who has already tasted the sweetness of B2C business format to stay away from it, and Nokia has proved this by the second bid to explore the consumer arena. As of now, it would be best to wait and watch how the new N1 tablet performs after it hit the shelves. Overall, the tablet segment of devices is already under a lot of pressure due to its diminishing popularity owing to some feature limitations with respect to voice calling, a feature missing from almost all tablets. If this new tablet from Nokia is able to revive the dying tablet segment, obviously the success will be reflected on the books of business of the company resulting in its share price taking an upturn. However, for now it would be best to keep a close eye on the new N1 tablet release before making any change in the stake held of the Finnish tech giant.
