HMD Global —best known as the manufacturer of Nokia smartphones— will soon launch its own brand of smartphones. In an interview with ET Telecom, Ravi Kunwar, HMD Global Vice President of India and APAC, confirmed the news. According to the top executive, the new HMD brand will make its debut in the first half of 2024 with India as its priority market. Kunwar confirmed that HDM will manufacture all its handsets in India and will consider exporting them to other markets. Here’s all you need to know about HMD’s plans to launch its own brand.
HMD Global to Launch its Own Smartphone Brand in India
Notably, Jean-Francois Baril, Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of HMD Global shared a post on LinkedIn earlier this year to reveal the company’s future plans. In the same post, the CEO shared that the company will soon launch its own HMD-branded smartphones as an evolution of the brand from making Nokia smartphones to its own smartphones. The top executive mentioned that the HMD-branded smartphones and Nokia phones will co-exist in the company’s portfolio with new partners coming on board.
Confirming the same, Kunwar said to ET Telecom that HMD Global will launch its own brand of devices in the first half of 2024. According to the VP of HMD Global India, the company will launch a series of HMD-branded products including smartphones, tablets, feature phones, and IoT devices to build an exosystem. He further elaborated that the HMD-branded portfolio will be priced across various segments but target different consumer segments than its Nokia portfolio.
Elaborating further, Kunwar stated that India will be a priority market for the HMD brand and the company will adopt an India-first approach for its devices. HMD will manufacture all its handsets in India and will also start exports from India to other markets. The company has already collaborated with Foxconn, Dixon, and Lava to make feature phones and smartphones in India and exports its feature phones to African markets.
Kunwar said, “The government of India is pushing Indian and affiliated entities to drive the whole manufacturing ecosystem. And that’s where this whole India opportunity fits in. There are huge supply chain initiatives which can come out of India.”
HMD is currently evaluating its supply chain network in India. Depending on the requirement, the company will take a call on whether to add new supply partners or increase the capacity of the existing partners to meet the export and domestic supply needs. According to Kunwar, India has the potential to become the export hub for other markets.
