Nokia phone licensor HMD to launch own smartphone brand

HMD, the licensor of Nokia phones, will bring out its own brand of smartphones by the middle of the year.

Three types of smartphones, including two focused on sustainability and repairability, and one Barbie flip phone in partnership with Mattel, will be introduced globally by July.

Nokia brand, for which HMD has the license till the end of 2026, will be limited to feature phones, a model of which will also be introduced by May.

The smartphone brand has a small share, about 1% as per Counterpoint Research, of the Indian market but considers the South Asian nation its most critical one.

Senior executives said that products will be made available in the market soon after or possibly alongside the global launch.

The company has also announced HMD Fusion, which is a new smartphone-style device, running on Android which will allow users to programme their own hardware accessories to suit their needs.

The HMD Fusion will have a built-in screen and battery, and six pogo pins on the back of the device to attach hardware accessories. Pogo pins enable modular attachments on the back of a device.

In India, Nokia was among the first mobile phone makers to localize production and it had its largest manufacturing facility here, before it closed down.

For the past three years, HMD Global has made almost all its smartphone models in India, through contract manufacturing partnerships with Foxconn, Dixon Technologies and Lava International.

The company made India its export hub after starting exports of the Nokia 105 featurephone, the first one to cost below Rs 1,000, to a few African countries since August.