Singapore-based Newkia wants to bring Nokia back

Sep 09, 2013

Fans of Nokia phones who wonder what could have been if the company embraced Android may get an answer from a new company called Newkia. Started on the day Microsoft acquired Nokia's device business, Singapore-based Newkia was founded by Thomas Zilliacus, who worked for 15 years at Nokia, where he was the Finnish company's Asia-Pacific CEO for seven years.

Currently leading investment company Mobile FutureWorks, which he founded, Zilliacus actually tried to buy out Nokia a year ago. Speaking to ZDNet, he revealed how he wasn't able to raise enough funds to do so.

To fulfil his vision of making a Nokia-like Android phone, he plans to hire Nokia employees who have expressed interest in developing for Android. He already has some ex-staff on board, and wants to hire more. "What Newkia wants to do is to use Nokia know-how, technology, and design to build the world's best smartphones, but running on Android," he said.

In the interview, he noted how Nokia missed opportunities because it was arrogant, due to its dominant position in the market at that time. He gave as an example a Nokia prototype that looked like the iPhone, developed four years before the first Apple iPhone. This product was never launched because the company thought the market wouldn't be interested -- he still has this prototype in his drawer.

Newkia doesn't seem to have a company logo yet, but it definitely shouldn't use this fake one we whipped up.
(Credit: Composite image by John Chan/CNET)

Newkia wants to launch its first phone within a year, though that will be dependent on funds raised and the employees it is able to hire.

Even though Zilliacus plans to have his R&D team in Finland, the company will be based in Singapore and devices will be targeted at the Asia audience. However, he does not rule out launching products in the U.S. as well.

Zilliacus adds that Newkia "can offer consumers what can be new, exciting, and different". It'll be interesting to see what the company can come up with, since there is now no lack of Asia-focused companies making high-quality, low-cost Android phones. Just getting the Nokia build quality and design would be a great start -- I'm sure a phone that feels like the Nokia N9 (or Lumia 800) with Android installed would be a tantalizing proposition for smartphone lovers.

Source: CNET ASIA