Am I correct that NOK is basically licensing the name but not building the phones? Wondering what their exposure is.

Jon,

I believe that is correct - Licensing, but beyond that, no dog in the fight. Lt cap would know with certainty, I expect. Although your question makes me wonder: Is buying a license from another company always just a lump sum of cash, perhaps y/o/y, or are there instances where the licensee pays a 'per item' (in this case, per phone) fee, giving the licenser part of a dog in the fight?

As I understand it, the license royalties are on a per phone basis.  It is a very smart way to participate in the smartphone market without the risk of losing a ton of money, as Nokia did when Apple destroyed its business a decade ago.

NOK is indeed only licensing its name and the IP (Patents).  There is no down side other than embarrassment if HMD Global fails.  On the other hand, if HMD manages to sell a lot of phones, the margins for the licensing are very high and Nokia stands to grow its Technologies division revenues nicely.   

I am not expecting HMD global to sell too many high-end phones because Apple and Samsung totally dominate the segment, but I do think that in the low and mid-point smartphone market it can compete effectively.

Though it seems AAPL is facing tough competition for its pricey phones inChina.  Just not sure if HMD's high end phone will measure up to Apple's iPhone 8, when it releases this September. The article in this link (ignore video, it is unrelated to China phone competition) talks about the tough environment Apple faces in China:

thestreet.com/st...=yahoo