Juho Sarvikas on what’s next for Nokia in 2021
HMD Global has been manufacturing Nokia branded smartphones since 2017. In those four years, HMD Global prided itself on several tenets: solid hardware design, a clean version of Android, and a commitment to updates.
As for so many brands, 2020 was a tough year for HMD. The COVID-19 pandemic and ever-increasing competition in the smartphone space took their toll, resulting in delays in market launches and lean sales.
How does the company plan to recover in 2021? We recently interviewed HMD Global’s Chief Product Officer, Juho Sarvikas, to cover this and more.
Read on for some highlights from our chat or watch the video above for the full interview.
The brighter side of 2020
Recognition: Tristan Rayner / Android Authority
It wasn’t all bad for HMD last year as Sarvikas pointed out a number of bright spots for the company. In particular, he noted the later release of the Nokia 8.3 5G – which heralds support for a staggering number of 5G bands – and the Nokia C entry-level range.
“We have also expanded to many new markets, for example in Brazil,” explained the HMD manager. He added that the company had “expanded” its presence in the US as well.
Would you like to upgrade? The best budget phones you can buy right now
Brazil in particular can be a tough nut to crack for OEMs as Xiaomi crashes and burns there in 2016 before releasing it in 2019. Motorola, on the other hand, has long been a popular choice in the region. Time will tell whether HMD can follow the latter to success.
What can you expect in 2021?
Recognition: Tristan Rayner / Android Authority
Sarvikas outlined multiple plans for HMD in 2021, starting with a mass market push for 5G.
“We see a great opportunity in close partnership with Qualcomm to achieve more mass market prices,” says the managing director.
See also: The best 5G phones you can buy right now
This will result in HMD Global joining Motorola, OnePlus, Samsung, and Xiaomi to offer cheaper 5G phones (~ $ 400 and below). Sarvikas also points out that phones will be the focus of the company in 2021 and says they will offer 4G models with VoLTE.
Growth opportunities for HMD?
Recognition: Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
Aside from the affordable 5G smartphones, low-cost smartphones and 4G feature phones segments mentioned above, the board of directors suggests that HMD has growth opportunities with the corporate segment. In the latter case, Sarvikas pointed to the privacy focus of the brand whose phones are on the recommended Android company list and the HMD Connect Pro offering.
Could there be room for a new premium flagship in 2021 two years after the Nokia 9 PureView was launched? We have to wait and see.
