The maker of Nokia-branded telephones debuted a slew of the latest units Tuesday, together with an “army grade” smartphone designed to resist intense environmental situations.
HMD World mentioned the Nokia XR20 is probably the most sturdy cellphone it’s created so far. The XR20 sports activities a tricky 6.67-inch Gorilla Glass Victus show from American tech agency Corning and might resist harm from scratches and drops from about 6 ft, the corporate says.
It’s what’s identified within the cell business as a “rugged” cellphone, a distinct segment class available in the market focused primarily on excessive sports activities lovers and handbook laborers. HMD says it hopes the Nokia XR20 caters to extra mainstream viewers.
In an advertising video, the corporate exhibits a girl spilling espresso over the cellphone after which rinsing it within the kitchen sink. A woman then by accident drops the machine, earlier than selecting it up after which dropping it once more on a stony path. In any case that, it’s just about unscathed.
It’s becoming for a model whose telephones have been well-known for his or her sturdiness. The parable that Nokia telephones have been “indestructible” has been the topic of numerous web memes. In keeping with HMD, the Nokia XR20 may be submerged in water for as much as an hour and endure excessive temperatures.
Past its rugged credentials, HMD’s new smartphone helps super-fast 5G web and has a 48-megapixel and 13-megapixel dual-lens principal digital camera. It is available in two colors: black and blue.
The Nokia XR20.HMD World
HMD can be throwing in 4 years of month-to-month safety updates and three years of Android working system upgrades.
Florian Seiche, HMD’s CEO, mentioned most individuals need telephones they will maintain for longer. HMD is focusing on enterprise purchasers in addition to customers with the Nokia XR20, he added.
“This suits many enterprise machine necessities,” he mentioned. “They don’t need to pay $1,000 or $1,500 for a purpose-built rugged machine which is clunky.”
The Nokia XR20 begins at a value of £399 within the U.Ok. and $549.99 within the U.S. It’ll ship from Aug. 24.
Area of interest participant
HMD was shaped by former Nokia executives in 2016, who purchased the Finnish agency’s ailing cell unit again from Microsoft in a $350 million deal. It’s financially backed by Nokia, in addition to different business gamers together with Google and Qualcomm.
The corporate has been attempting to carve out a distinct segment within the cellular phone market, promoting trendy revivals of retro Nokia handsets and smartphones on the low to mid-range.
It has struggled within the smartphone market, holding only a 0.6% share in 2020, in response to IDC. That’s a decrease than LG, which just lately determined to wind down its cell enterprise.
HMD is nonetheless an extra outstanding participant within the characteristic cellphone — or “dumb cellphone” — market, with its old-school handsets taking over 16% of the market final yr.
The corporate on Tuesday unveiled a contemporary tackle Nokia’s 6310 cellphones, which was launched in 2001. The brand new 6310 helps solely older 2G networks, diverging from previous remakes which supported 4G.
The Nokia 6310.HMD World
HMD says it’s because the target market is people who find themselves all for Nokia’s heritage however solely need fundamental textual content and voice options.
The Nokia 6310 is available in black and yellow and retails at £49.99.
Different merchandise unveiled by HMD Tuesday included the Nokia C30, a £99 smartphone coming with a big 6.82-inch show, and 4 completely different ranges of Nokia earphones. The highest-of-the-line Nokia Readability Earbuds Professional comes included with the Nokia XR20.
A shift towards online gross sales final yr meant HMD has “managed to remain worthwhile,” Seiche instructed CNBC. The corporate has additionally been pushing into providers with its personal community known as HMD Cellular.
Nevertheless, Seiche added {that a} world scarcity in semiconductor elements may show difficulty for HMD and different machine makers.
“We see there’s positively total tightness,” he mentioned, including “we’d see a sure imbalance throughout the market” as demand for low-end fashions is kind of excessive.