Brace yourself, planet Earth, says Nokia CEO – our phones ARE coming back from mid-2016

Nokia's chief exec says he wants to resurrect the Nokia smartmobe brand by licensing the name to cellphone hardware makers next year.

CEO Rajeev Suri told Germany's Manager Magazin that Nokia Networks will seek out manufacturers to build Nokia phones from mid-2016, when Microsoft gives up control of the brand name.

"We are looking for suitable partners," Suri said.

He confirmed earlier reports that Nokia is banned from the smartphone market until the middle of 2016 – a condition it agreed to in 2014 when Microsoft bought its handset business. Redmond swiftly dropped the "Nokia" name from the Lumia Windows Phone line it acquired from the Finns, leaving the brand in limbo.

The comments confirm what many had previously suspected: the remaining part of Nokia wants to get back into the mobile phone game. In this case, the company would hire another manufacturer to actually build its phones.

Manager Magazin noted that China's Foxconn could be among the manufacturers lined up to churn out Nokia branded mobes. ®