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Nokia Denies Reports It's Getting Back Into Phone Business

The report indicated Nokia would likely license the product to another manufacturer and sell it under the company's name; a Chinese manufacturer currently sells the company's N1 Android tablet.

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Reports last week suggested Nokia planned to get back into the mobile phone business in 2016, nearly a decade after its cellphone heyday.

This week, the Finnish telecom giant quashed those rumors.

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

Re/code last week reported that Nokia Technologies, which licenses the company's intellectual property, planned an ambitious array of new projects including a smartphone.

The report indicated Nokia would likely license the product to another manufacturer and sell it under the company's name; a Chinese manufacturer currently sells the company's N1 Android tablet.

Nokia, however, said it did not indicate "an intention to manufacture consumer handsets out of a R&D facility in China."

The Finnish company is prohibited from selling Nokia phones through the end of this year under the terms of its 2014 deal with Microsoft, which absorbed its phone business to the tune of more than $7 billion.

The company recently announced it would acquire French telecom Alcatel-Lucent for $17 billion.

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