Can Pekka Rantala - former CEO, Angry Birds-maker Rovio resurrect Nokia?

Nokia, which was once people’s preferred choice in the smartphone segment wants to regain some of its lost ground. In a bid to revive its old legacy, the company has signed a brand agreement with home-brewed Finnish manufacturer, HMD Global, Oy that provides HMD with exclusive brand rights and intellectual property licensing in exchange for royalties that come in from sales. This means HMD is free to use Nokia branding on smartphone and feature phone products manufactured by it.

But how easy or tough would it be for Nokia and HMD to make a return to an already crowded and fragmented market led by Apple, Samsung and many others. Noticeably, HMD knows that it won’t be an easy ride and thus made an important move this week.

HMD Global has appointed Pekka Rantala, former CEO of Angry Birds-maker Rovio, as the Chief Marketing Officer of the company. He joined the game company late in 2014, but left after only a rough year long stint. During his time at the company, he undertook the job of imposing deep job cuts and restructuring to achieve profitability. Prior to his job at Rovio, Rantala had worked in Nokia for a lengthy sixteen years, from 1994 to 2011.

It was a road downhill for Nokia since it decided to sell its smartphone hardware business to Microsoft at the end of 2013. Post-acquisition, Redmond continued to use the Nokia branding for feature phones, but rebranded the Lumia lineup under its own name. The company, however, still struggled to find buyers for its coveted Windows smartphones.

Citing flagging sales, Microsoft announced that it has sold part of the mobile hardware business — entry-level feature phone — to Foxconn Technology subsidiary, FIH Mobile Ltd. and HMD Global, Oy for a meagre sum of $350 million.

With Nokia veteran Arto Nummela, currently heading HMD Global, Oy, we might witness a reincarnation of sorts of Nokia in the coming months.