Nokia manufacturer HMD Global Oy plans to build the capabilities and processes necessary to bring 5G device manufacturing to Europe this year.
The Finland-based company announced in a press statement that it was collaborating with a number of IT security partners on software upgrades and extensive testing as the initial phases of smartphone manufacture and testing in Europe.
The corporation has not disclosed where in Europe its factory will be located.
The European Union has been encouraging corporations to establish production in vital areas by creating legislation and providing subsidies, as it did with the European Chips Act for semiconductors.
Nokia Oyj, formerly the world’s largest phone manufacturer, and HMD struck an exclusive 10-year licensing arrangement in 2016 for HMD to manufacture Nokia-branded smartphones and tablets.
Nokia had lost the smartphone war by 2014 and sold its entire handset division to Microsoft. It has shifted its concentration to telecoms network equipment.
HMD utilized Nokia’s remaining phone patents and Foxconn’s manufacturing facilities to create a new range of handsets to compete with other low-cost Android phone manufacturers.