For several years now, rumors have swirled that Nokia would be leaving the phone space. The iconic company, most known for the jokes around its supposedly indestructible phones, has struggled to maintain its presence in the smartphone market. In 2017, HMD purchased the rights to make Nokia-branded devices. And despite reassurances as recently as August, it seems that Nokia smartphones are no longer an option. They have all been listed as unavailable on the HMD website and moved to a separate section from HMD’s smartphones.
The page displays links and images to over a dozen different Nokia smartphones and tablets, but clicking any of those will show a barebones summary with a message saying, “This phone is no longer available.” HMD has rearranged the site to place more focus on its own devices. There has been no official statement regarding the change, but it seems that HMD has thrown in the towel on trying to keep the brand alive. However, there is one important thing to note: only Nokia-branded smartphones are gone. Feature phones — or “dumb” phones — are still available for purchase, at least for now.
This potentially marks a major change in the smartphone industry, but it doesn’t mean Nokia as a brand is going anywhere. Nokia is involved in a lot more than just phones; it also provides technology to a huge range of different fields, and is even working on a collaborative project with several other companies to put a cellular network on the moon. If Nokia backs out of the phone game, it will open up more resources for the company to devote to its other projects.
At this point, what happens next for Nokia is anyone’s guess. The company almost has a nostalgic presence in the market as one of the first big names in the smartphone game, but after multiple attempts to save the brand over the last few years, perhaps it’s time for Nokia to concede the fight to the current market leaders.
