HMD Global to launch a new mobile phone brand line parallel to Nokia: CEO

Finnish mobile phone HMD Global said it plans to launch a new brand to create a new world for telecommunications focused on consumer needs

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Finnish mobile phone maker and Nokia’s official brand licensee HMD Global has said that the company is going to make devices under a new HMD brand name. In a LinkedIn announcement on September 11, HMD Global CEO Jean-Francois Baril announced that it plans to introduce a new brand of mobile devices. The new line of devices under the HMD brand will coexist alongside their Nokia brand.

“It has been a great journey as ‘HMD – the home of Nokia phones’ – an exclusive position we have held for the past six years, Now we are ready for the next step on our journey - to enter the market independently as a force to create a new world for telecommunications focused on consumer needs,” said Baril.

Although HMD Global has not provided any information regarding new products under the new brand name, it is expected that Foxconn, on whom HMD Global has relied for making Android phones under Nokia brand line will continue making devices for the company under the new brand as well.

For the past few years, HMD Global, in partnership with Nokia, has focused on the budget and the mid tier smartphone segment and it is highly likely that the brand will follow the same route to establish itself.

HMD Global was started by former Nokia executives with the aim to re-establish the brand’s name and bring Android-based smartphones to the consumer market after Microsoft abandoned its rights to the Nokia brand in 2016. The company is largely run by ex-Nokia executives so the move can prove to be an opportunity for the company to reclaim some of the brand’s legacy under a new name.