Exactly one year ago, HMD Global acquired the rights to accomplish and advertise smartphones beneath the Nokia brand.
The Finnish aggregation fabricated abundant advance in its aboriginal year of business. It got what was already the best admired cast name in the industry aback on the map and appear six Android smartphones. It additionally fabricated abounding mistakes.
In an account with Bloomberg aftermost December, above CEO Arto Nummela said that HMD “will be acutely accurate to the Nokia brand.” Did the aggregation accumulate its promise? Let’s booty a look.
HMD has backward accurate to the Nokia cast aback it comes to user-friendliness. It fabricated a acute move by alienated contemporary smartphone software appearance and chief to stick to the basics. Thus, Nokia-branded handsets are some of the few active banal Android.
Smartphones with boilerplate Android accept abounding advantages that accomplish them popular. They are one of the aboriginal to get above OS upgrades. They additionally action a simple, fast, and convenient interface, and don’t appear with a ton of pre-installed apps (bloatware) best users will acceptable never use.
HMD has additionally promised to advancement all of its smartphones to Android Oreo, as able-bodied as rolling out account security updates.
Announcing the Nokia 3310 was additionally a acute move. The accessory doesn’t accept agitative specs, features, or design. It’s a “dumb” phone that’s acceptable for authoritative calls, sending texts, and arena Snake which was all the acerbity aback in the day. But it is a business goldmine.
The aboriginal Nokia 3310 was one of the best smartphones of its time and is the brilliant of endless memes that will accord you a acceptable laugh. Reviving it was a ability move which put Nokia aback on the map, as the aggregation accustomed a ton of chargeless publicity from big and baby publications beyond the globe.
The 3310 acknowledge additionally sparked customer interest, which helped HMD accompany its added smartphones to a lot of countries in a abbreviate aeon of time. Although the aggregation has been in business for abandoned a year, its handsets are on auction in China, India, the US, and the majority of European markets.
The aggregation has additionally invested a lot of money into marketing, in big markets and abate ones in Europe. This helped it ink deals with carriers throughout the old continent, article abounding Chinese smartphone makers accept been aggravating to do for years after luck.
The majority of bodies buy phones on contracts, so partnering with carriers is a huge deal. It brings Nokia accessories in advanced of added consumers and has a big appulse on sales.
HMD additionally fabricated a acute move by absolution a smartphone in anniversary category. There’s the already mentioned 3310 affection phone, the budget-friendly Nokia 2 and 3, mid-range Nokia 5, 6, and 7, and the flagship Nokia 8. The aggregation has all the bases covered with its lineup, giving consumers a best at altered amount points. Its smartphones additionally affection absurd body quality, which has consistently been alike with the Nokia brand.
Having a few low-end and mid-range accessories in its calendar is additionally a abundant way to grab consumers’ absorption in developing markets, area purchasing ability is lower than in the West. Alms handsets that won’t breach the coffer beneath a able and admired cast could actual calmly accomplish HMD a force to be reckoned with in arising markets.
One of the bigger mistakes HMD has fabricated so far is arena it safe in its designs. Its smartphones aren’t ugly, but they abiding aren’t adult either. They already attending dated, abnormally compared to attractive rivals like the Galaxy S8, LG V30, and Honor 9.
Nokia smartphones— alike the flagship Nokia 8— don’t accept an X factor; a analgesic affection or two that would accomplish them angle out. To accord you a few examples, the Galaxy S8 sports a arced display, Note 8 comes with the S Pen, OnePlus 5T has Dash Charge, Moto Z2 Force appearance a modular design, and the HTC U11 offers Edge Sense, as do its mid-range siblings.
HMD is aggravating to accomplish high-end Nokia handsets angle out by accouterment them with Zeiss optics. It’s additionally highlighting the “Bothie” feature, which lets you use advanced and aback cameras accompanying for split-screen photos and videos. However, these abandoned aren’t able abundant different affairs propositions to instantly accomplish Nokia smartphones a hit amid consumers.
The accuracy is Nokia smartphones aloof accept the name and HMD is acquisitive it will be abundant to accomplish them attempt for your absorption and money. The aggregation is aggravating to banknote in on the cast and its plan has been alive so far. We acceptable wouldn’t affliction about Nokia smartphones after the Nokia name.
See Also: hack facebook messengerThis won’t go on forever. HMD has to alpha innovating and demography risks. If not, the cast will lose its appeal, as it did years aback aback the aggregation banned to accept Android and partnered with Microsoft. Authoritative all-encompassing Android phones ability be a safe bet to start, but it’s not a abiding strategy.
HMD additionally fabricated a big aberration by not absorption added on the US, one of the best important markets for smartphone manufacturers. Sure, it appear the Nokia 6 stateside, anon to be followed by the entry-level Nokia 2, but it doesn’t plan on alms its flagship Nokia 8. This is a big boycott because the high-end bazaar is area the money is. Flagships additionally accord companies added columnist and get bodies talking.
Speaking of flagships, Nokia is still missing a accessory that would go arch to arch with the Galaxy Note 8, LG V30, OnePlus 5T… The Nokia 8 ability action top-of-the-line specs but it additionally has a baby affectation for a flagship, at 5.3-inches. Not to acknowledgment those large, airedale bezels. If HMD absolutely wants to compete, it needs a absolute flagship Nokia handset.
HMD needs a premium-looking phone that packs the latest hardware, offers a abreast bezel-less design, and sports a ample 18:9 awning amid 5.8 and 6.2 inches. We’ll acceptable see it eventually or later, but if HMD was austere about authoritative a burst it would’ve already been appear out. After it, the advertising about Nokia may alpha ambagious down, authoritative it alike harder for HMD to allurement consumers abroad from the competition.
The acknowledgment is yes and no. The company’s smartphones stick to the basics. They’re able-bodied and affection a authentic Android experience, but they’re missing something. I’ve endemic abounding Nokia accessories over the years and every one of them acquainted like it was advanced of the competition. They were attractive and arranged appearance that fabricated them unique. You don’t get that with the new Nokia smartphones.
It ability not be a huge accord in the entry-level and mid-range sections, but it absolutely comes into comedy in the high-end market. Bodies who buy flagships rarely accomplish actuation purchases. They apperceive their options and what’s different about anniversary one. The cast abandoned won’t be abundant for HMD to abduction the absorption of ability users. It needs article more.
Things could change. HMD acutely has added accessories in the pipeline, with one of them actuality the Nokia 9 (see angel below). Rumor has it the accessory will appear with a 5.5-inch QHD arced display, a bezel-less design, and top-of-the-line specs. On paper, it looks like a abundant bigger adversary to the Galaxy S8, LG G6, and agnate accessories than the Nokia 8. But by the time it arrives the abutting bearing of flagships will be available, so HMD ability still be arena bolt up.
The aggregation has fabricated some mistakes in its aboriginal year of business, but it additionally fabricated a lot of absurd moves. It’s accustomed a lot of absorption in the aftermost 12 months, but HMD will accept to booty its bold to the abutting akin in 2018 if it wants to acknowledgment the Nokia cast to its above glory.
The good
The bad
Has HMD backward accurate to the Nokia brand?
HMD Global is now rolling out Android 8.0 Oreo for Nokia 8
Bringing the 3310 aback from the asleep was a ability move that put Nokia aback on the map.
HMD fabricated a aberration by not bringing the flagship Nokia 8 to the US.
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