Nokia, the once leading company of the mobile phone industry, is preparing for a return to the market after two years. The Finnish company announced it has already started preparations and is seeking favorable partnerships. In accordance with the contractual agreement on the sale of mobile phone production operations to Microsoft, Nokia cannot return to the mobile phone market until the end of 2016. Previously, Nokia launched its tablet devices in the Chinese market, which were produced by subcontractor Foxconn. Although Nokia was the undisputed leader of the mobile phone industry at the beginning of the century, the company started to fumble halfway through the decade, falling behind in product development, including touchscreen technology and projected market share level. Nokia's downfall began to accelerate in 2007 as they experienced one of the world's largest product recalls with 46 million cellphone batteries deemed faulty as well as the launch of Apple's iPhone. In the following years, Nokia had to cut jobs and move production abroad as Apple's profits and market share skyrocketed.