The manufacturer of Nokia smartphones, HMD Global, will soon launch its own brand of smartphones. HMD Global Vice President of India and APAC Ravi Kunwar confirmed the news to ET Telecom. HMD will launch in the first half of 2024 with India as its priority market, according to the top executive. HDM will manufacture all its handsets in India and consider exporting them to other markets, Kunwar said.
Recently, Jean-Francois Baril, Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of HMD Global, shared a post on LinkedIn regarding the company’s future plans. As part of the company’s evolution from making Nokia smartphones to creating its own smartphones, the CEO shared that the brand will soon launch its own HMD-branded smartphones. As new partners join the company’s portfolio, HMD-branded smartphones and Nokia phones will coexist.
In an interview with ET Telecom, Kunwar confirmed that HMD Global will launch its own brand of devices in the first half of 2024. It is expected that HMD Global India will launch a series of HMD-branded products, such as smartphones, tablets, feature phones, and IoT devices, in order to form an exosystem. In addition, HMD’s branded portfolio will target different consumer segments than Nokia’s but will be priced across various segments.
Kunwar explained that HMD’s India-first approach will be its priority market for its devices. All HMD handsets will be manufactured in India, and it will also start exporting from India to other countries. In addition to making feature phones and smartphones in India, the company exports its feature phones to Africa in collaboration with Foxconn, Dixon, and Lava.
