Nokia dismisses rumours of a return to the mobile handset market

No plans to make a comeback, says firm

Nokia has debunked reports suggesting that it is making a return to the consumer mobile phone market, saying that it has no plans to make or sell such hardware.

The firm, which is now part of Microsoft and partly an independent business, was reacting to reports claiming that the company had plans to return to the market.

A report on Re/code said that Nokia is using a research and development facility in China and was planning to develop new consumer devices for delivery sometime after 2016.

One of the website's sources, a former Nokia executive, said that Nokia has "a lot of great stuff in development" and that "people will be blown away" if the products come to market.

However, Nokia has issued a straightforward denial. "Nokia notes recent news reports claiming that the company communicated an intention to manufacture consumer handsets out of a R&D facility in China," the firm said in a statement.

"These reports are false, and include comments incorrectly attributed to a Nokia Networks executive. Nokia reiterates that it currently has no plans to manufacture or sell consumer handsets."

Reports suggested that the rumours started at Nokia and were ignited by statements from two undisclosed insiders who said that plans are afoot to make a return.

The 'statements' gave some consideration to the fact that Nokia is prevented from doing anything in this direction until 2016 under the terms of the Microsoft mobile business acquisition.

Nokia officially exited the mobile phone market in 2014 by selling the handset business to Microsoft for £4.6bn, but its share in the market was in any case suffering badly at the hands of stiff competition from Android and the Apple iPhone.

The company has a collection of around 10,000 patents and is very likely to return with hardware of some form.