We could see more re-makes of old #Nokia phones from #HMD
HMD’s CMO Pekka Rantala gave a few interesting interviews for Finnish mobiili.fi and TechRadar.com. We recently covered Pekka’s statement that HMD’s naming scheme is logical, and it’s not wrong to expect Nokia smartphone that will carry lower (Nokia 2) or higher numbers (Nokia 7, 8, 9).
For both publications Mr. Rantala stated that HMD is experiencing a huge demand for the new Nokia 3310 (2017) and that the device is constantly sold out. Precise financial numbers or number of units sold Pekka refused to give, but he said: “lots” of 3310s were sold.
Because of the warm welcome by customers, HMD’s is considering doing re-makes of other popular Nokia phones, but not in a way that they are basing the success of the company on nostalgia. It’s just an idea to satisfy the fan base that requests more re-makes. The complete quote goes:
“We are very seriously looking into the results of this [new 3310] experience and we don’t exclude the possibility of continuing this kind of approach as part of the overall offering.”
“We haven’t made any announcement that would guarantee this, but the 3310 has been welcomed very warmly by consumers, and we want to serve the consumers, so it could be an avenue for us.”
“We are getting lots of input from consumers and trade customers on what we should be doing in terms of the past great Nokia devices, and we are listening very carefully.”
HMD’s CMO also stated that the company’s intention is not to change the Nokia brand (“re-write”) the Nokia brand, but “to articulate the brand in a fresh, modern way.” In terms of smartphones, the demand is huge, by the words of HMD’s CMO. And he promised to stock up the stores as soon as possible, but we all know that HMD had serious troubles in establishing the manufacturing and supply lines. That kind of struggle is normal for a young company, but at the end, most customers don’t care, they just want the smartphone as soon as possible.
HMD was also surprised how popular the copper color was, and that because of the high demand from retailers and customers, that variant of Nokia 3, 5 and 6 will come with the second batch later this summer.
We can conclude that the HMD underestimated the demand for all introduced devices, and together with FIH Mobile did a bad job in delivering the devices to market. But once the supply and manufacturing lines get to an optimal point of operation, this issue probably won’t be seen with the upcoming higher end models or second generation of introduced lower end models.
I find that it is a good idea to announce every year (or 18 months) one re-made model of older Nokia devices. After the 3310, that most fans will buy for nostalgic and collector’s reasons, maybe HMD could remake the Nokia 6600, which seems to be an interestingly designed device and it sold more than 3310, or the 1100, or more advanced phones like the E52 or E72, but these great Symbian Devices would be crippled with an dumbphone S30+ OS. Also, financially, it would slow down the decline of feature phone sales, but focusing to much on older devices and nostalgia could lead to bad reputation of HMD as company that is only using the Nokia name to make money, and not innovating in the smartphone market.
What do you think? Would it be a good idea for HMD to re-make more Nokia phones and of what model should the next re-make be?
