Rumors: Nokia 9.3 could arrive this year, but display technology complexity might delay launch
Flagship smartphones have always been the best representatives of a smartphone company. Smartphone manufacturers pack only their finest technologies and latest innovations in their flagship phones, which is followed by big marketing push, as well as availability of a lot of accessories to make the flagships an even more attractive purchase.
This year’s flagship devices are expected to come with the Snapdragon 865 or a custom equivalent under Exynos or Kirin brands, and while one might argue that Nokia 8.3 5G is somewhat of an “affordable 5G flagship (?)”, we didn’t really see a Nokia smartphone with the latest flagship SoC. In fact, the last Nokia Android phone that came with a current generation SoC was the Nokia 8 in 2017. Nokia 8 Sirocco in 2018 had then an already year old Snapdragon 835, while Nokia Mobile launched the Nokia 9 PureView in February 2019 with the last year Snapdragon 845. While to me the SoC isn’t the most important part of a phone, it surely counts when you compare the device to other phones.
Nokia 9.3.
At the moment the device is 95% ready. The company plans to announce a flagship this year.#hmd #nokiamobile #nokia— Nokia anew (@nokia_anew) June 6, 2020
Anyways, I went a bit off topic. The topic of this article is the recent rumors Nokia Anew shared on Twitter, regarding the upcoming Nokia 9.3. Nokia Anew says that the device is almost ready and could arrive this year, probably in Q4 per some speculation we received, but we also heard that it might be moved to MWC.
The CPO of the company is worried that there will be a large number of defective displays due to the complexity of the technology. He suggests waiting for competitors to test the technology.
A final decision has not yet been made.#nokiamobile #nokia #nokia9 #innovation— Nokia anew (@nokia_anew) June 6, 2020
Nokia Anew also stated that due to the complexity of the screen technology, Nokia Mobile could delay the device until the tech proves to be reliable. The tech in question is the under display front camera. In any case, a Nokia flagship device is certainly a lot more exciting than new feature phones. We are also still waiting for the Nokia 8.3 5G sales to start, so I would say Nokia Mobile should slow down and focus on one device at a time. Launching a flagship device with last year SoC for the third time doesn’t make sense, so taking a risk and delivering it by the end of the year might be a better move.
One thought that doesn’t leave my mind is why Nokia Mobile doesn’t have an all around regular flagship in the pipeline, just like the Nokia 8 was. No risky camera tech (leave that for another model), no risky display tech (also leave it for another model), and just release a nicely designed flagship with current generation SoC with a reasonable price, just like the Nokia 8 was. Such device might be characterised as boring or with no innovation, but I would be sold just with a nice (non glass back) design and wireless charging.
