Nokia Windows RT tablet to rise from the ashes at Mobile World Congress?

After shutting down the project earlier this year, Nokia is rumored to have restarted development of a 10-inch Windows RT tablet, which could be announced at Mobile World Congress.

Way back in March this year, Nokia’s executive VP of design told a Finnish magazine a third of his time was dedicated to creating a tablet, which was subsequently said to have a 10-inch screen and a dual-core Qualcomm processor. As far as its release was concerned, few could agree on when it would arrive, with both a summer and a late 2012 date being suggested.

Obviously, it hasn’t arrived at all, with Nokia preferring to focus its attention on its Lumia range of Windows Phone 8 devices. However, if a new report from Digitimes is accurate, Nokia’s tablet isn’t dead, as it could be accelerating towards an announcement at the end of February.

Sources close to Taiwanese suppliers told the publication Nokia’s tablet was originally scheduled for development in early 2012, as the previous rumors indicated, but the project was put on hold when Microsoft announced the Surface. As is now well-known, several manufacturers have either held off, or abandoned entirely, plans to release a tablet running Windows RT after Microsoft announced its own model.

Windows RT market now proven

Apparently, Nokia was waiting for the Windows tablet market, “To be proven.” It obviously now feels that it has and is preparing to restart development of its 10-inch tablet, with a view to announcing it during Mobile World Congress. Nokia has again teamed up with Qualcomm and Compal Electronics to manufacture it.

As Nokia makes one of the most popular Windows Phone handsets, and has a reputation for producing durable, well-designed mobile products, a Windows RT tablet from the company is an interesting proposition. But is the Windows RT tablet market really proven? Judging by analysts comments and market rumors, ranging from Microsoft halving its Surface orders to sales being far less than the company’s already conservative estimates; from the outside it appears to have only proven difficult.

Could Nokia be the company to turn all this around? Its good reputation can only help, as will a sensible plan for selling the new tablet through retail stores right from the start, a problem Microsoft is only now rectifying. Barring any further leaks, we’ll discover more, one way or another, about Nokia’s tablet at Mobile World Congress, which begins on February 25 next year.