Microsoft announced it will sell its feature phone business to a subsidiary of Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn.
In a statement released Wednesday, Microsoft says it will transfer its feature phone assets including brands, software and services to FIH Mobile and Finnish company HMD for $350 million. The deal is expected to close during the second half of this year.
Microsoft says it will "continue to develop" Windows 10 Mobile and support Lumia smartphones running the software. However, it's not clear whether the tech giant will continue making newer Lumia models.
The move marks the return of Nokia -- acquired by Microsoft in 2014 for more than $7 billion -- to the mobile phone business. The company announced a licensing and manufacturing deal with Finnish company HMD and FIH Mobile to create mobile phones and tablets bearing the Nokia name.
"Today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the Nokia brand in an industry where Nokia remains a truly iconic name," said Ramzi Haidamus, president of Nokia Technologies in a statement.
Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia two years was a huge disaster for the tech giant. Last year, after cutting 18,000 employees, Microsoft announced it would slash another 7,800 jobs and take an impairment charge of $7.6 billion related to the acquisition of Nokia's handset business.
