Nokia made a comeback by launching its iconic feature phone, the 3310, and three other smartphones based on the Android platform. The new devices — Nokia 6, Nokia 5, Nokia 3 and Nokia 3310 — are robust, but are simple in design, says Juho Sarvikas, Chief Product Officer at HMD Global.
What made you choose Android as the OS for the second coming of Nokia, rather than developing an OS of your own?
We will do what the consumers want and the uptake of Android is impressive. Our own research came up with the fact that users want simple and easy to use OS, and for us, the OS also enabled us to embed Google innovations (Google assistants running on Artificial Intelligence) in our new products. We also did a lot of consumer research in India, China, West Europe and Latin America.
In a first for the brand, India would be the only geography where two of our smartphones — Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 — would come with three slots, two for SIM cards and one for a memory card (micro SD). For all the new handsets, we had given special importance to power management and also not to reflect sunlight. There will be new features added for the Indian market, but that will be shared later.
When do we see the refreshed Nokia 3310 debuting in India? What would be the price in India and what are the additional features?
The 3310 will debut in India along with other parts of the world in the second quarter of this calendar year. The global price of the device is at about €49, but the pricing for India would be different. We haven’t decided the prices for India, which will be finalised later.
The 3310 comes with the iconic snake game, and is thin, light and incredibly durable. With 22 hours of talktime, and a month-long stand-by battery life, the iconic device will be available in four finishes, warm red, yellow, dark and grey. It will come with a larger display than the original one with a 2.4-inch polarised screen.