The Nokia smartphone brand may soon vanish again, as the current brand owner, Finnish company HMD Global, has started redirecting visitors from the Nokia website to a new site branded under its own name.
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A company spokesperson denied any plans to eliminate the long-standing smartphone brand for a second time, but also mentioned that the company will make an important announcement at the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Spain this March.
Using the Nokia brand hasn't propelled HMD Global to the forefront of the global mobile phone manufacturers. Its smartphones failed to generate much interest, mainly targeting the mid-range market with the aim of offering good value for the price.
This venture, initiated by former Nokia executives, forged a partnership with Terry Gou, founder and CEO of the Taiwanese hardware giant Foxconn (which manufactures some of Apple's iPhones among other products), who invested in the creation of HMD as an attempt to enter the mobile phone market.
HMD Global's journey hasn't been a particularly successful one. In fact, the smartphones it developed and marketed under the Nokia brand never managed to captivate the public's interest.
What did manage to catch the hearts and minds of consumers, however, was a series of cellphones based on iconic Nokia models such as the 3310, 8110 or 8210, but updated with modern hardware, like 4G connectivity or GPS. The company currently offers a line of featurephones and smartphones, with the last model released in the previous summer.
It seems that the iconic brand's phone business is about to vanish for the second time. Nokia's phone division was initially acquired by Microsoft, which quickly phased out the brand. Windows Phone devices disappeared in the middle of the last decade, and Nokia was considered dead until HMD revived it.
HMD Global hasn't really made a significant mark in the telecommunications world. The smartphones launched under the Nokia brand have never impressed or garnered public interest.
It's not that Nokia devices were inferior, but rather they faced stiff competition from Chinese manufacturers like Huawei, Xiaomi, Lenovo (which acquired Motorola) and Oppo, all offering devices for the budget and mid-range market segments. Nokia's branding wasn't enough to differentiate its products, which closely resembled those of its Chinese counterparts.
HMD has teased an upcoming announcement, promising not to abandon the Nokia brand and affirming its status as the manufacturer of Nokia phones. However, they hinted at planning a new partnership. It's unclear whether this means replacing their current main supplier, Foxconn, with another entity or adding a new brand alongside Nokia.
Regardless, Nokia's future seems quite uncertain at the moment. Nonetheless, we hope any future device launched will be more interesting than what has been offered so far.