Nokia Returns With Android Smartphone Only For China

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Nokia was an iconic brand in the smartphone market once, and it is trying its hand in the same market again (sort of). Last year, HMD purchased the rights to sell Nokia-branded smartphones, and on Sunday, it announced the smartphone dubbed the Nokia 6. The announcement corresponded with the final day of CES in Las Vegas, where other new gadgets and mobile phones have been released as well.

An impressive phone

The Nokia 6 is an inexpensive but stylish Android smartphone; however, it is exclusive to China, at least for now. This 5.5-inch Android phone comes with a Snapdragon 430 chip, a 1,920×1080 resolution, 4GB of RAM, a 16MP camera on the back, and an 8MP shooter on the front.

In addition, the phone has an aluminum body, which is rare in non-premium phones, notes CNET. For all its specifications, the Nokia 6 is an impressive phone, considering that it will sell for only 1,700 yuan, which converts to AU$330, £200, and $245.

Growing importance of China

This move of launching exclusively in China is just another reminder of how big the Chinese smartphone market really is. The company noted that there are about 552 million smartphone users in China, which is nearly double the overall population of the U.S. HMD added that this figure is predicted to grow to more than 593 million users by the end of this year.

HMD will have to fight local brands like Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, and Huawei to gain significant market share in the region.

In a statement, HMD said, “It is a strategically important market where premium design and quality is highly valued by consumers.”

The Nokia 6 will be marketed in a partnership with local internet retail giant JD.com. The team behind the making of the Nokia 6 believes the device’s premium design will appeal to the local market.

Nokia making a comeback

Last year, HMD purchased the rights to sell Nokia-branded tablets and phones from Microsoft in a $350 million deal. This followed Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia’s devices and mapping divisions in 2013 for over $7.2 billion. The only phones launched under the deal so far have had been more “basic feature” phones.

The new Android device is expected to mark Nokia’s return to the smartphone market after a series of Windows Phone models that did not do well. The Nokia brand has had difficult years recently. The last time the company made headlines was in December when it said that it was suing Apple over 32 smartphone patents.

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