HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, and optical technology leader ZEISS recently announced that they have entered into an exclusive, long-term partnership. The companies seek to leverage their individual experience and expertise in order to bring innovative smartphone imagine experience, from software services to screen quality and optic design. 

"Collaborating with ZEISS is an important part of our commitment to always deliver the very best experience for our customers," Arto Nummela, CEO of HMD Global, said in a press release from the company, adding, "Our fans want more than a great smartphone camera, they want a complete imaging experience that doesn't just set the standard but redefines it. Our fans expect it and, together with ZEISS, we're delivering it – co-developed imaging excellence for all."

The partnership between the two companies started more than a decade ago with Nokia's N-series camera phones and continued up to the Lumia series, before the brand's subsequent sale to Microsoft. The collaboration produced mobile devices that featured some of the most cutting-edge mobile phone imaging technology of the time. The Nokia 808 Pureview, released in 2012, featured a 41-megapixel, 1/1.2-inch image sensor, which to date remains the highest resolution sensor ever to be used in a camera phone.

HMD Global purchased the Nokia-branded feature phone business from Microsoft in 2016. The company has recently announced its new line of Android-based smartphones, the Nokia 3, 5 and 6. The inclusion of ZEISS' optical technology in future Nokia smartphones can help revitalize the former cellphone industry giant's efforts to claw its way back into today's mobile phone market contention.

ZEISS is a global player in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. The company develops and manufactures various optic-based technologies and services. Working together with HMD Global on the Nokia smartphones will give ZEISS the opportunity to become a household name and further increase its wide-ranging impact on today's technological landscape.