Nokia and ZEISS have officially ended their partnership, says Nokiamob. After noting that Nokia was no longer featured as a partner on its website’s Brand Partnerships page, Nokiamob contacted Zeiss. Zeiss’ response was as follows:
“After the long and successful collaboration, in 2021 ZEISS and HMD Global have mutually agreed not to prolong their non-exclusive partnership which included collaboration for imaging technologies of “Nokia” branded smartphones with ZEISS as consulting and development partner.“
As a result, the ZEISS logo won’t be present on any next Nokia smartphones. This decision, though, has not been supported by a reason.
Nokia and ZEISS have had a partnership for many years, with the latter providing camera hardware to the former’s smartphones. This long-run partnership has now ended, as confirmed by HMD Global-owned Nokia.
Some speculation maintain that Nokia and ZEISS’s partnership ended in silence in 2021. The final smartphone with ZEISS-backed cameras was the Nokia XR20. The sole partners for the camera company at the moment are Sony and Vivo.
Recall that the Nokia-ZEISS collaboration started that year. This collaboration led to the creation of devices including the Nokia 9 PureView, Nokia 8.3, Nokia 7.2, and others. Due to its five rear cameras and the fact that it brought back the PureView trademark, the Nokia 9 PureView was undoubtedly a hit.
Not just ZEISS has broken off its business relationship with its phone partner. The multi-year agreement between Huawei and Leica was also terminated earlier this year. The Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi, a major competitor with Huawei, and the German camera company later agreed to a new contract. The Xiaomi 12S Ultra, which was unveiled in July 2022, is among the first products to be produced in a partnership.
Although the reason for the separation of the two companies is not stated in ZEISS’s statement, it is likely due to HMD Global’s new business strategy, which is concentrated on the entry-level and mid-range categories. Spending money on creating competitive camera features isn’t a good investment because products in these categories aren’t known for their camera performance.
The contrary is true for Sony and Vivo, whose premium and high-end flagships, like the Xperia I IV and the Vivo X Note, have ZEISS technology.
Even though the partnership is over, it might yet be revived in the future if HMD Global decides to return to the premium smartphone market. Many fans of the Nokia brand will be eager to purchase a capable flagship from the company if and when it decides to produce one.
