A redesigned classic Nokia 3310 series is likely to hit the mobile phone market in the second quarter of this year, according to Bloomberg.
The two new smartphones, the Nokia 3 and Nokia 5 are manufactured by Finnish firm HMD Global Oy and will run on Google’s Android operating system and Google Assist.
The two Nokia series, including a low cost Nokia 3310 features phone which was last sold about 17 years, ago were showcased at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Sunday.
The release is the first major push by HMD to revive Nokia’s glory as a global mobile producer.
After the collapse in sales and revenue Nokia Oyj sold the business to Microsoft Corp. in 2014, and staffing in mobile-phone operations fell to under 1,000 from more than 24,000.
HMD, run by chief executive officer Arto Nummela, a former Nokia executive, has previously said it will invest more than $500m in the next three years to market the phones and tablets.
While HMD controls the sales, marketing and distribution of the Nokia brand for smartphones, the manufacturing operations were sold by Microsoft to a subsidiary of Foxconn Technology.
The Nokia 6 was already in January in China and is set to be introduced globally.
First launched in 2000, the Nokia 3310 featured a small monochrome display and became known for its durability.
Perhaps buyers will be looking out for longer battery life that was associated by Nokia brands in the early 2000s.
Long battery life has been a key feature that lacks among mobile phone manufacturers including large brands.
The revamped, slimmer version of Nokia now has a colour screen, but many of the phone’s basic features remain.
Nokia, which now focuses on mobile networks, gets royalty payments from HMD, but doesn’t have an ownership stake.
