Although Nokia sold its handset division to Microsoft, it doesn't mean the Finnish company is done creating its own handsets, with rumours suggesting that it's planning to release a new Android smartphone.

Nokia Corporation's CEO Rajeev Suri recently dropped hints that the company might be planning to re-enter the smartphone market, and now we're hearing that the first handset could be one running Android.

The new report states that the phone will be a flagship device, and will be build by the same team that made the Nokia N9 - the handset which ran on the MeeGo operating system.

Android over Windows

When Microsoft bought Nokia it got the Nokia brand's 10-year licence. This means that Nokia can produce its own smartphones and sell them as rebranded devices, so while they might not be called Nokia smartphones, underneath they will be.

The Nokia brand itself is losing some of its lustre, with Microsoft dropping the Nokia name in favour of the Lumia brand.

It is interesting that Nokia may go with Android rather than Windows Phone for its new handset. While this could be due to the licensing agreement between Nokia and Microsoft, it is probably also influenced by the huge disparity between Android market share and Windows Phone.

Nokia recently released the Nokia X, Nokia XL and Nokia XL+ handsets which ran a version of Android that was reskinned to look like Windows Phone. These handsets weren't big sellers, so Nokia's new phone will almost certainly run stock Android instead.

Read our review of the Nokia Lumia 530

Via GSM Insider