HMD Global, the maker of Nokia phones has a unique niche in India that caters to the rural population and their feature phone needs. As per the latest reports, HMD Global has remarked that the introduction of JioPhone Next, which will be the first android smartphone from Jio, will create healthy competition in the segment. Nokia currently sells feature phones which do not come under the “smartphone” category, whereas, Jio’s target with the launch of JioPhone Next is to bring the 2G population under the umbrella of the 4G network. The quirk here is the migration of the customers from 2G to 4G, and there is a huge market for it, not only in India but globally, HMD Global officials said.
HMD Global Seeing New Opportunities
Sanmeet Singh Kochhar, Vice President, HMD Global told ET Telecom, that despite the pandemic, the handset market in India stayed resilient. He also agreed to the opportunities that are available in this new market. However, he further added that the feature phone serves a unique purpose to the rural population and there is still a lot to be done. The VP also added that Nokia debuted the C series of phones for this very purpose, which has been well received by the buyers. Tuesday saw the launch of the Nokia XR20, Nokia 6310, and Nokia C30, along with new audio devices from Nokia.
JioPhone Next to Invoke New 4G Using Population
It’s worth noting that the biggest telecom operator for India, Reliance Jio has partnered up with Google to develop the JioPhone Next which will be launched on September 10. The precursor to this device, the standard JioPhone has done a lot to add a massive number of subscribers to Jio’s basket. In the last quarter only, Reliance Jio added 14 million subscribers, out of which most are being said from the JioPhone segment. A figure of around 300 million is said to be belonging to the 2G crowd, which is going to be the target market for JioPhone Next, which aspires to bring the customers to the 4G network. As for HMD Global, the manufacturer is leveraging the PLI scheme to produce more and more gear not only for the Indian market but the global market as well.
