If you are assiduous to the news about the mobile market, you will have noticed that Nokia has less space in the media every day . This is because HMD Global (the company behind Nokia) is not presenting major news, making people lose interest in their devices. Proof of that? The MWC 2022 was full of news and Nokia launched some mobiles, but they went unnoticed by the event because they were low-end.
This has been happening frequently, leading more than one user to wonder if Nokia decided to abandon flagships. Did? Today we can say that yes, Nokia gave up on high-end Android phones , but that’s not as bad as it seems.
Nokia confirms it’s not interested in getting into a spec war
After months of silence and speculation, finally a head of HMD Global confirmed what everyone thought: Nokia is not interested in the top of the range with Android (for now). This was made clear by Adam Ferguson, Director of Product Marketing at HMD Global, in a conversation with the Android Authority team:
“Making an $800 phone doesn’t make sense to us right now. HMD Global doesn’t want to get involved in a massive spec war with other players, preferring to represent something very different.”
This statement is very clear and can make fans of the brand uncomfortable, since they long to see Nokia shine as it did years ago with the mythical N95 and E71. We also want it to be that way, but HMD Global’s strategy does not have to be bad and, in fact, it has been working very well for it. Don’t you believe us? Let’s talk a little about recent history.
Nokia wanted to cover all levels of the market without having how, and this took its toll
Since the acquisition of Nokia, HMD Global wanted to take advantage of the nostalgia that this brand generates and jumped into the water trying to cover everything that the market asked of them: basic phones, innovative top-of-the-range phones, fast updates, a clean version of Android, reaching everyone and more. The problem? The company did not have the financial muscle, nor the distinctive ideas, to embark on this adventure.
Nokia’s story with HMD Global got off to a pretty good start in 2016. A good number of international shipments, plenty of press space, and the promise of seeing the phoenix rise from the ashes . This golden age reached its peak towards the end of 2017 with the sale of 25.1 million mobile phones (between smartphones and basic). However, everything indicates that she was moved by nostalgia.
Yes, the company’s phones were far from bad and had Android One, but they didn’t offer anything too remarkable either. The market realized this and with barely a year of honeymoon, things began to turn dramatically.
Nokia’s orders began to fall quarter after quarter, as the company tried to lift them with new launches. The last big try? The Nokia 9 PureView from 2019 with its bunch of rear cameras, but the result was catastrophic. The market fell apart for HMD Global , a situation that got a whole lot worse during the first six months of the pandemic.
Abandoning the high-end resulted in a respite for Nokia
After the hard blow of 2019, Nokia decided to change its strategy: it temporarily said goodbye to the high range, reduced the launch of upper mid-range mobiles, went back a little on its word with updates and put all its effort from the mid-range towards down . Some of that change didn’t sit well with users (and rightfully so), as well as knocking Nokia out of the headlines, but it helped the company slowly recover.
After bottoming out in Q2 2020 with just 8.6 million units sold, Nokia has been slowly climbing its numbers. In fact, they have been profitable for 6 quarters in a row according to data from Strategy Analytics. Between 2020 and 2021 alone, HMD Global increased its revenue by 41% . Yes, from the outside it seemed that they had thrown in the towel, but the truth is that the new approach is being very positive for them.
Cheap, durable mobile phones with good features, this is the new Nokia
What is Nokia currently planning and for the short term? According to the company itself: manufacture durable phones, with good battery, good functionality despite the hardware they use and have an affordable price. All this with the idea of recovering the trust of users without having to risk a mess of experimentation along the way.
In addition, this strategy allows them to enter money into their coffers and create a cushion that later serves as insurance to dare more. Because yes, Nokia today is clear about one thing: entering the high-end war requires resources and is not very profitable.
However, Ferguson explained that his company still has much more to do, which leaves the door open to try again. It will be soon? We don’t think so, but we do know something: regaining consumer confidence won’t be easy, especially since Nokia is going through this process for the third time .
What to do in the meantime? As users, wait and see how things unfold . Capable everything works perfectly, Nokia is positioned as the best company in the medium and low ranges in a few years and then they return to the high range through the front door. But we don’t know.
