Nokia Smartphones Are Dead! Once Again.

The writing was on the wall. HMD Global has discontinued Nokia smartphones for good. All the Nokia smartphones that were on sale even months after the launch have been delisted from the HMD website in several markets, including India. HMD has moved the entire Nokia smartphone lineup to a new web page, where the devices are marked “discontinued.”

The end of the road for Nokia’s smartphones comes months after HMD launched smartphones with its own brand. HMD revamped its entire phone portfolio, including feature phones to move away from the Nokia brand. The Finnish company introduced phones such as Barbie Phone, Skyline, and Crest to catch up with its rivals. However, the company never confirmed that it was planning to let go of the Nokia moniker, which it has used for its smartphones and feature phones for about seven years.

HMD Global came as a saviour for the Nokia phone business after Microsoft’s experiment with Lumia failed to take off. As Nokia’s steward, HMD Global started selling Nokia-branded smartphones and feature phones. Initially, the sales picked steam, largely because of nostalgia that Microsoft struggled to strike in customers. However, the nostalgia factor was not enough to push sales. HMD Global faced multiple challenges in reclaiming Nokia’s market share, including cut-throat competition from Chinese smartphone companies. It compelled HMD to innovate more, which resulted in the arrival of devices like the remarkable nine-camera phone, the Nokia 9 PureView. There was only so much HMD could do to make Nokia phones sell like Xiaomi or Oppo before it realised it needed a pivot.

In addition to smartphones, Nokia-branded tablets have also been discontinued. But that means customers can no longer buy Nokia smartphones from the official website. They might still find the discontinued Nokia smartphones and tablets on third-party shopping platforms.

But there is still hope for Nokia. HMD has not delisted Nokia feature phones, hinting that it may still be interested in exploring the feature phone market using the Nokia brand. The company has previously revealed that its feature phone business is a revenue driver in several markets.