Nokia reportedly planning mobile comeback

One year after closing a deal to sell its handset business to Microsoft, Nokia is reportedly exploring a return to the mobile phone market.

According to Re/code, citing two anonymous sources, Nokia will come back to the mobile phone business in 2016.

However, don't expect the Nokia that many cell phone consumers remember during its prime in the '90s and early 2000s. The report says Nokia hopes to license its designs and brand to a company willing to take on manufacturing, sales and distribution.

News of a potential mobile comeback come one year after the company sold its handset business to Microsoft for more than $7 billion. The two companies finalized the deal last fall. Microsoft and Nokia had been partners in the smartphone market, with Nokia building its line of Lumia smartphones with Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile platform.

The report says under terms of the deal, Nokia could not sell phones until after this year.

Last week, Nokia confirmed it would acquire French telecom company Alcatel-Lucent for $16.6 billion. The deal is expected to close next year.

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