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.
Zilliacus, who founded and currently heads investment company Mobile FutureWorks, actually tried to buy out Nokia a year ago, but was unsuccessful. So, to fulfil his vision of making a Nokia-like Android phone, he now 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 an interview with mediapersons.
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 office drawer.
In Finland, Nokia was a huge deal. For those who are passionate about mobile technology, the death of Nokia happened a long time ago, when they started getting $250 million “platform support payments“ every three months from Microsoft. So, by attracting veterans from Nokia who would like to develop a successful Android phone, Newkia potentially has the makings of something great.
