The new Nokia X20 smartphone from HMD Global.
Ryan Browne | CNBC
LONDON – The company behind the Nokia mobile phone brand refreshed its range of smartphones on Thursday with a series of new budget models, as it struggles to compete with well-known players such as Samsung and Apple.
Finnish start-up HMD Global has been licensed to design and sell Nokia phones since it bought the mobile phone division of Microsoft’s telecommunications group in 2016. Since then, the company has launched several smartphones and “stupid phones”. ”- including refurbished versions of nostalgic devices, such as the 8110“ banana phone ”and the 2720 flip phone.
On Thursday, the company announced six new smartphones. They are divided into three different series: X, which is at the top of the range in terms of prices and specifications; G, which is slightly more accessible than X; and C, which is the cheapest in the group. Prices start at 75 euros (89 USD) for the Nokia C10, while the Nokia X20 is the outstanding device of all six, retailing at 349 euros or about 415 USD.
For this price, you’ll get a 6.67-inch screen, four cameras on the back with a 64-megapixel main lens and the ability to connect to 5G internet super fast. The less expensive X20 and X10, priced at 309 euros, are both powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 5G chipset, run on Google’s Android operating system and come with three years of security updates, as well as a three-year warranty – one year longer than the one offered by the G and C series.
The X20 also has a “dual view” feature that allows you to use two of your phone’s cameras at the same time to capture different angles in a photo.
Use the dual view camera function on your Nokia X20.
Ryan Browne | CNBC
It will not include a charger in the box for durability reasons, arriving instead with a fully compostable housing. The phone will be shipped to Europe next month, while US availability is not yet revealed.
Fierce competition
Nokia has struggled to gain significant traction in the smartphone market, thanks to fierce competition from Apple, Samsung and Chinese players such as Huawei and Xiaomi. This is a problem that persevering manufacturers such as Sony and LG. The latter, once a top Android brand, said it would give up the smartphone market earlier this week.
“I think it will continue to be very difficult for (Nokia) to compete in the largest portfolios on the market – that’s why it’s now targeting lower price bands,” said Francisco Jeronimo, associate vice president for European market research at IDC. told CNBC.
“On the other hand, they’ve worked hard enough to get into the B2B (business-to-business) market, which is a great opportunity for them, because there aren’t many players that offer an attractive portfolio.”
Nokia smartphones accounted for only 0.6% of the market last year, according to IDC data, delivering fewer phones than LG and China’s Honor. However, HMD has worked well in functional phones – also known as ‘stupid phones’ – which have a 16% share of that market in 2020.
HMD hopes to expand into new business sales and services to find other sources of income. The company, financially supported by Nokia, Google and other large investors, last year launched a global data roaming SIM card called HMD Connect. It managed to break after giving priority to online sales in the coronavirus pandemic.
HMD is also launching a new mobile network in the UK called HMD Mobile. It will operate as a mobile virtual network operator or MVNO, which means that it must rely on the network infrastructure of another telecommunications company. Packages will start at GBP 6.50 ($ 9) per month. It will not be launched with 5G immediately, but the company said it is working on preparing the “5G” service.