Is this the end of Nokia smartphones?

When HMD Global secured the trademark rights of the mobile phone dinosaur Nokia in 2016, its goals were ambitious. A Nokia comeback on the smartphone market shouldn’t be enough. “Our goal is to be one of the top three smartphone manufacturers again within the next three to five years,” said then HMD boss Florian Seiche around a year later.

• Also read: Why the smartphone market is a case for two [OÖNplus]

The reality of the past few years was of course different. The attempt to assert itself in the competitive market against top dogs such as Samsung or Apple had no notable success. HMD now wants to emancipate itself from Nokia with its own product line. A leaked image of the first HMD smartphone shows a device that should be without the familiar Nokia logo. According to the mobile telephony platform “91mobiles”, the market launch in India could take place from April.

The HMD going it alone doesn’t come as a surprise. CEO Jean-Francois Baril announced this in a written statement on LinkedIn last September. Year after year, the company is the “fastest-growing manufacturer of 5G smartphones” and is also a leader in sustainability. And you feel “ready for the next step”.

• On the subject: Nokia wants to cut up to 14,000 jobs

The question is what this step will mean for Nokia’s future. Baril continued to write that, in addition to the HMD mobile devices, there would also be Nokia-branded products and collaborations with “exciting new partners,” but he did not go into details. It can be assumed that Nokia’s already small market share will continue to decline. The licensing of the Nokia brand for HMD expires in 2026. An extension could be very costly, which is why the expiry date of the cooperation could already be set.

Nokia with profit slump

Meanwhile, Nokia posted a slump in profits in the fourth quarter due to weak demand, particularly in North America and India. With a decline in sales of 23 percent to 5.71 billion euros, the operating result (EBIT) fell by 27 percent to 846 million euros, as the group announced on Thursday. However, Nokia thus exceeded analyst estimates of 767.5 million euros.

“Looking forward, we assume that the difficult market environment will continue in the first half of 2024, especially in the first quarter,” said Nokia boss Pekka Lundmark. In particular, sales of equipment for the 5G mobile communications standard were sluggish in markets such as North America in 2023. Lundmark responded by cutting 14,000 jobs.

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