HMD Global recently launched a new 5G smartphones in India — the Nokia X30 5G — at a price point of Rs 49,999 in India. After launching a new mid-premium 5G smartphone in the country, the company is gearing to launch a bunch of budget smartphones in India soon. Also Read - Samsung Galaxy F14 5G goes on sale in India: Price, offers, and specs
“So we have announced three fantastic devices…First of all we have the Nokia C12, which is going to be our lowest cost C-series device for 2023 in India. This comes with an octa-core processor and for the first time we’re launching a device with memory extension…So that’s the first one, C12 and C12 Pro. These two are getting launched in India very very soon,” HMD Global Vice President, Sanmeet Singh Kochar, said in an interview with Techlusive on the sidelines of the MWC 2023 in Barcelona. Also Read - Microsoft brings ads to its Bing chat
“And then we have two more devices in the C-series range. First is the Nokia C22…and the Nokia C32…Both of these smartphones come with an octa-core processor with memory extension. The beautiful thing about these devices is that they come with three days of battery life,” he added. Also Read - Vivo X Fold 2 officially showcased ahead of launch in April
Besides the features, Kochar talked about the replacement guarantee that HMD Global is offering on the purchase of these smartphones. “All of these phones come with a replacement guarantee for all our fans in India, which means that if these two have any complaint on hardware of the device, we don’t repair the device but replace the device. Plus, all of these devices are below 10,000 and each of these come without any bloatware. Therefore, no ads, no hassle…and monthly security updates,” he said.
On migration from 4G to 5G
During our conversation, the HMD Global VP also talked about the migration of 2G and 4G users to 5G. He said that the 2G, 4G and 5G ecosystems will co-exist even as there is migration towards 5G.
“I think the 4G and 5G ecosystem would co-exist. I don’t think the whole system will switch to 5G in a hurry…I think we will see devices coming as low as Rs 12,000 this year in the 5G space largely,” Kochar said.
“And above that we will have 5G. But we will have 4G and 4G would have a very very important role to play in the overall scheme of things. So, would 2G. So 2G, 4G and 5G ecosystem will continue to co-exist as we move forward,” he added.
Affordability of 5G devices
Talking about 5G smartphones in India, the HMD Global VP said that he expects to see 5G smartphones at a price as low as Rs 12,000 in India in 2023.
“We still believe that they would be in the range of around Rs 12,000, we’ll have 5G devices in 2023 and it will continue to go down. But we also have a lot of low-cost EMI-options there in the market. So that if someone wants to buy a 5G device there is an affordability option with different financial institutions that HMD Global ties up with. So, you have Nokia 4G and 5G devices available with a lot of EMI options. You can pay less amount up front and then pay in installments,” he added.
Feature phones in India
Lastly, talking about feature phones, Kochar said that HMD Global’s feature phone market share grew first time in nine years in the past year.
“We grew our feature phone market share. For the first time in nine years, we are above 30 percent. We’re number one. We’ve been number one in value but for the first time in nine years we have above 30 percent market share in India, which is a fantastic achievement to have,” he said.
“We are going to come up innovative products in 2G, 4G as well as in 5G in 2023,” he added.
