#FF00AA

The industrial design for the N1 came from Nokia, but the company is no longer in the manufacturing business and has licensed that design — along with its Z Launcher and various intellectual property — to Chinese manufacturer Foxconn, which rather interestingly will handle distribution and sales and customer care, and will even be responsible for liabilities and warranty costs.

Does it sound to anyone else like Foxconn is essentially paying Nokia to take the heat on the iPad mini-cloniness of its new tablet? The tech press might buy the idea, and the public certain will, but somehow I doubt Apple could look at this and go, “Oh well, blame Nokia.” I’m sure that Tim Cook must love the narrative that he saved the company by masterfully offloading all of the supply chain to third-parties, but how much longer can Apple afford not to manufacture its own products when that means subsidizing its entire competition?

Back when Samsung and Nexus phones were much cheaper than iPhones, Android was crappy enough that quality-conscious customers had every reason to stick to Apple devices. But Foxconn is entering the market right at the same time as Lollipop, and that story may play out differently.