HMD Global, the maker of Nokia-branded phones is heading in a new direction, however the business claims that they are not giving up on the Nokia brand despite it being a yesterday brand that is better known by an older target audience.

Overnight HMD hinted at the pending launch of a new Nokia branded feature phone product with the Company set to use an as yet to be revealed, new HMD Global branded range to appeal to a younger target audience who are still asking ‘Who is Nokia’.

The move comes as Motorola gets set to launch several new budget smartphones into the Australian market tomorrow.

The bad news is that the new Motorola range will not include the much heralded Moto Edge 50 Ultra which if launched would have retailed for over $1,600 with the Lenovo owned Company who are now clearly #3 in the Australian market looking to shore up their position in the affordable premium and value smartphone market where they have grown share significantly during the past 18 months before they take on Samsung in the premium market.

HMD appears to have moved to their new strategy with a combination of new HMD global smartphones and Nokia devices.

Alain Lejeune, chief operating officer at HMD (Seen below) claims that the Company has been working for some time on bringing their HMD brand to the market.

“We devised this multipronged strategy to serve different consumers with different brands. We are keeping Nokia focused on the feature phone segment and will bring our own HMD originals to the smartphone market. With the strategy change, we want to focus on a younger audience and female consumers and sharpen our focus on sustainability. The industry provides similar products that don’t mean much to consumers anymore. We want to change that and are looking at it from a fresh perspective” he said recently.

Under the new strategy, the business is forming new partnerships.

They recently partnered with Mattel for the first Barbie phone which is yet to be revealed in Australia.

It also appears that the business is looking to India where Chinese brands have grown in the past to grow share.
The business is currently deepening its manufacturing capabilities and hiring more employees in India according to Lejeune.

And that according to a recent interview includes new Indian research and development (R&D) capabilities to support its new strategy.

Recently the business was able to deliver a profit in Q4 and will be profitable for the entire year claims management after several quarters of losses.

Lejeune claims that feature phones are a segment that should not be overlooked, and that there is a lot of momentum for feature phones.

He also claimed that the exciting trend is a digital detox, which he claims is picking up globally with consumers now moving back to retro.

While the feature phone is the first device that comes to mind, HMD Global are also working at new innovations in that space.

“We have a couple of things on our drawing board that, are feature phone-plus, we are getting into that companion device category”.

When asked about the Nokia brand after the licence expires in 2026?

“We’re not giving up on the Nokia brand and are committed. However, I can’t discuss discussions between Nokia and HMD. We are bringing new products under the Nokia brand this year and keeping investments in it. We see strong momentum and demand for Nokia brand phones.

Our focus on smartphones is all around the HMD brand. This is a strong opportunity to bring something different to the market with a fresh brand. For smartphones, we want to start forming new partnerships to drive growth” he said.