Nokia taps former Rovio man Rantala to market relaunch

The relaunch of the Nokia mobile brand will include the man who once ran mobile games maker Rovio. HMD global Oy, owner of the Nokia brand rights, said that longtime executive Pekka Rantala will become chief marketing officer of the company, effective immediately. Most recently the chairman of Jot Automation, Rantala is best …

[Anonymous Coward]

Party like its 2010

Has Nokia invented a time machine to now go back to when both these companies were still relevant?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Party like its 2010

True - any company whose net sales were only 5.6 billion Euro last quarter is pretty irrelevant now days - and I'm not referring to Rovio.

[Voland's right hand]

Re: Party like its 2010

Actually, I think they are onto something.

In a world where everyone has at least one smartphone in his hand and at least a couple of spare old ones in his drawer you need to use some elastic rubber and a sling to get rid of the surplus supply. Otherwise you are not selling anything.

[J. R. Hartley]

I'm optimistic.

I honestly believe that there is so much residual goodwill in the Nokia name, that even after all these years they stand a good chance of being a success. Even after Windows Phone. The phones will almost sell themselves.

[allthecoolshortnamesweretaken]

Re: I'm optimistic.

I actually still use my Nokia (Asha 205; looks like a poor man's BlackBerry) because 1) it still works, 2) is dual SIM, 3) needs to be charged once a week/every other week, depending on use, 4) is small and lightweight, 5) can do everything a phone should be able to do.

So yes, I wouldn't mind buying another Nokia, which should be a phone first. For all the 'smartphony' stuff I use a tablet anyway; I think it's more practical that way.

[xj25vm]

Re: I'm optimistic.

Hear, hear. I still have two Nokia Asha 302 in daily use. They have a hardware keyboard, they've been dropped more times than I can remember, they only need charging every few days and most importantly, they just work. Amazingly, I can even use WhatsApp on them - although they are based on S40 (well, until they end of the year, anyway). I'd buy another Nokia to use just as a phone any time.

[Dead Parrot]

Maybe they're going into the arms business...

A Nokia 3310 fired from a catapult could do some serious damage.

[Mark Jan]

Would Love an Updated 808

I personally am looking forward to what Nokia have up their sleeve.

I still use a Nokia 808. Launched in 2012 its 41MP Pureview sensor camera tech is still unbeaten.

If they can deliver a modern equivalent it will be amazing.

[Graham Dawson]

just give me a modern equivalent of the n900 and I'll be happy.

you hear that, nokia? one man's happiness! surely that's worth more than a million sales?

no?

oh well. gimme anyway.

[Avatar of They]

I second that.

It was a brilliant phone cut down in it prime by Useless M$ meddling.

[Richard Plinston]

Unique Brand ?

> to work with this unique brand

I am not sure that 'Nokia' is 'unique', it has been used by Nokia itself, by Microsoft, and under license by Foxconn.

[James 51]

Who was responsible for the Nokia 108 I saw in a shop a few days ago?

I'd love a new N900. Cross it with an 808 and I'd be able to put my Q10 to rest.

[Dan 55]

Dumbphones labelled 'Nokia' are with MS at the moment but are going back to Nokia. They'll be made under licence by HMD Global, like their smartphones.

[Anonymous Coward]

Do some research

and I think you'll find that HMD Global Oy is just a company set up to relaunch Nokia branded phones - it is not the parent of Nokia.

Not using the Tips & Corrections for a good reason.

[Mikel]

They will do fine

No doubt the product will be first rate and well received.

[MacroRodent]

You got it backwards

HMD global Oy, the parent company of Nokia,

Say WHAT? HMD Global just tries to relaunch the "Nokia" phone brand, but it is most certainly not the parent of Nokia the company (which is still going strong in network equipment). Nokia just licenses the brand to HMD, and has a representative in HMD's board.

Sloppy reporting.

[Anonymous Coward]

Really?

Cheap Chinese made Android phone with Nokia stuck on the front, straight to landfill.

[Peter Gordon]

Correction...

"... bought back earlier this year from Microsoft, which will continue to try and sell handsets under the Lumia banner."

FTFY.

[Lee Taylor]

We need a true sucessor to the N900, which was a brillant piece of kit with a fantastic little keyboard

[TraciTheWeeb]

So they're going to make an app where you launch oldschool nokia brick phones and break stuff?

[Lars]

I still have a working 9210 Communicator.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_9210_Communicator

And I still like the form factor and the keyboard, I take it out for a stroll occasionally, what about a modern one, Nokia.

I am not surprised if people get a bit mixed up regarding what Nokia is today as a lot of people believed Microsoft bought the whole company and not "just" the cell phone part, and the brand recognition was with the phones, no doubt.

Nokia Networks compete's well with Ericsson and Huawei.

[Anonymous South African Coward]

Still have a working 5230. But it looks so dinky when compared to a 7" phablet.

I want a good and proper phone like the Nokia 6210 - with oodles and oodles of storage space though, and some seri-ass battery life of a week (or better).

Won't mind if the screen is LCD or paper, it will be used mainly for calls/texting/whatsapping.

But what the hey, I'm probably dreaming.

[Anonymous Coward]

Better late than never

Best of luck to Nokia.

Hardware and R&D of Samsung, aggressive pricing of Xiaomi, software of Sony (minus the bundled bloatware on Xperia phones), combined with the experience of Nokia in the handset business.

A bit of Finnish determination and ingenuity would help too.

The best revenge is tremendous success. Let Microsoft languish in its Lumia quagmire.

[Roj Blake]

Alums / Alumni

Could somebody let me know when alumni changed to alums plase?

[moylan]

holding a candle, waiting for nokia

today dublin bus tweeted a pic of 10 phones passengers left behind. half were dumbphones and most were ancient nokias. they last forever and are near indestructible. i use one myself. i see them still in use by people who also carry smartphones.

so if and when nokia put out a new phone i'll probably be there waiting to buy one. no smartphone other than symbian for me: 1) lasted more than a day on battery. 2) could be depended to bounce off the ground unbroken 99 times out of a 100. 3) had a brilliant comfortable keyboard instead of virtual crappy ones. ymmv.

[J. R. Hartley]

Re: holding a candle, waiting for nokia

That'll be the hipsters.

[JassMan]

If the real Nokia were to start making Jolla Sailfish phones

I would buy one. The Jolla phones need a real name behind them so that users have more confidence as well as some management control to ensure they produce one working product instead of spreading their efforts trying to produce tablets, licenseable software etc. If they can produce a full featured smartphone for €169 with a production run of only 1000, they should be able to produce a worldbeater on a production run of say 250K as long as they can get some R&D money to sort of the deficiencies. .