Nokia may once again be on the verge of extinction. And the news of the return of the once legendary cell phone brand to the competitive smartphone sector only stirred up nostalgia, since sales of HMD, the company that relaunched the Nokia brand with Android models, have plummeted and the company recently announced that it will continue to produce smartphones, but now under its own brand, that is, HMD.
What happened to Nokia to prevent it from fully positioning itself in the smartphone market? HMD numbers relative to sales in 2022 sheds some light: Nokia cell phone sales fell 29%, rising from 56 million units in 2021 to 40 million in 2022. smartphones: 815 million euros out of 441 million euros.
Given these numbers, falling Nokia smartphone sales could see HMD look to position itself under its own name and end the licensing agreement it signed with the Finnish company in 2016 to produce smartphones under the iconic name.
Additionally, all indications are that outside of technology or finance news sites, little will probably be heard about HMD as its phone distribution, between smartphones and feature phones, will be concentrated in India. “This is the most important market for HMD devices,” he said. Economic times Ravi Kunwar, Head of HMD.
Uncertain future
As of today, there is no news on whether HMD will continue to produce cell phones under the Nokia brand. However, if, as they say, the one who remains silent admits that, most likely, the Nokia G42 5G was the last smartphone of Nokia’s Android era under HMD. And it was last August HMD announced which will begin producing smartphones under its own name.
HMD did not specify whether it would continue to produce Nokia cell phones, however, judging by sales, the cooperation did not bring the expected results and, despite the fact that the initial agreement provided a license for Nokia for 10 years (the agreement is due to expire in 2026), it is quite it is likely that the Finnish company will be able to terminate the deal.
So, while the Nokia brand will remain relevant and well-known in the telecommunications space – the company makes 5G cellular devices – all indications are that we won’t be hearing about it again in the smartphone space.
Are you feeling nostalgic? You can buy a modern version of the classic Nokia 3310 from HMD. Just make sure that the 2G network (GSM or TDMA) is still working in your country, otherwise you will only have MP3.
Source: Digital Trends
