back to article 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 …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Party like its 2010

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

    1. Anonymous Coward
      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.

    2. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      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.

  2. 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.

    1. 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.

    2. 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.

  3. Dead Parrot
    Mushroom

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

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

  4. 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.

  5. Graham Dawson Silver badge
    Coat

    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.

    1. Avatar of They

      I second that.

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

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge

      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.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    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.

  9. Mikel

    They will do fine

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

  10. MacroRodent
    FAIL

    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.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Trollface

    Really?

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

  12. Peter Gordon

    Correction...

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

    FTFY.

  13. Lee Taylor

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

  14. TraciTheWeeb

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

  15. Lars Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    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.

  16. Anonymous South African Coward Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    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.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    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.

  18. Roj Blake Silver badge
    Headmaster

    Alums / Alumni

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

  19. moylan
    Alien

    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.

    1. J. R. Hartley

      Re: holding a candle, waiting for nokia

      That'll be the hipsters.

  20. 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. .

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like