The company that owns the rights to manufacture Nokia-branded mobile phones, HMD Global will be launching its own smartphone brand soon.
Making the announcement this week on LinkedIn was the Finnish company’s co-founder and CEO, Jean-Francois Baril. “True to our values, HMD will continue to design for a more sustainable and affordable future for people. We will craft technology that is obsessed with the user experience and anticipates people’s needs.” – Baril said.
The company will not stop making Nokia-branded devices, and in addition to its own smartphone brand, the company will be collaborating with new unnamed partners for additional releases.
This announcement comes three years before HMD’s licensing rights to the Nokia brand expire. As much as HMD releases phones with Nokia branding, it is distinct from the company that was once the world’s biggest cell phone manufacturer.
Nokia is currently focused primarily on its much larger telecommunications network business. In South Africa, Vodacom and Rain use Nokia’s technology in their networks.
Nokia sold the rights to use its brand on phones to Microsoft back in 2014, and this was after Apple and Samsung had overtaken the company’s phone market share.
When its Windows Phone operating system failed, Microsoft sold its rights for a 10-year licencing deal with Nokia to HMD Global in 2016.
HMD Global was established as a separate co-designer and manufacturer of Nokia phones.
