Nokia to return to smartphone market in 2017?

There's been a lot of rumours doing the rounds of late that suggest former smartphone giant Nokia will be returning to smartphones very soon.

We've already had reports that the company is working on three or four new Android devices, previously said to be arriving by the end of the year.

There's also been a lot of speculation around the as yet unannounced 'D1C' device, which has been spotted in benchmarking databases and could either be a smartphone or tablet.

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But now, it seems we've got a little more in the way of concrete news regarding Nokia's plans, as an official slide from the firm’s Capital Markets Day presentation states it will be returning to the smartphone market in 2017.

The slide was obtained by NokiaPowerUser and lays out the company's plans for the next two years, including 'expanded VR leadership'.

But its the unequivocal line under the 2017 heading that reads 'Nokia brand's return to smartphones' which is most revealing.

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The report also claims Nokia is preparing to unveil new devices at MWC 2017, which is set to take place in February and will see numerous companies debut new handsets.

Could the 'D1C' be the first Nokia handset to debut next year? Details remain unclear at this point, but Microsoft exec James Rutherfoord previously told Vietnamese publication CAND.com.vn, that HMD Global will be launching two new Nokia-branded phones in Q4 2016 and Q2 2017.

Whether we'll see any Nokia handsets this year is also unclear, but at this point it looks like we'll see the company returning to smartphones sooner rather than later.