HMD shipped 16 million Nokia phones in Q3 2017

Nokia branded smartphones returned to the market just over a year ago, after being discontinued by Microsoft in 2014. HMD Global a company from Finland was tasked with the responsibility to resurrect Nokia brand.

The first Nokia branded device to hit the market was Nokia 6. It was launched in China at the beginning of this year on January, 8, 2017 running stock Android software, and made its global debut in March at MWC, 2017. Since then HMD has launched Nokia 2, Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 7 and the premium flagship, Nokia 8, making it a total of six Android smartphones to choose from at various price brackets. It also launched a couple of feature phones as well including a refreshed version of the iconic Nokia 3310. Except the Nokia 7 (China exclusive), the rest of the phones are available world-wide.

And to no surprise it appears that consumers have welcomed the Nokia branded handsets with open arms. 

According to a report from research firm Counterpoint Research HMD Global has shipped over 16 million units of Nokia devices in the third quarter 2017. These include 2.8 million Nokia Android smartphones and 13.5 million feature phones. The latest numbers put Nokia in the third position in the feature phone market and 16th position in the smartphone market.

Previously HMD Global managed to ship only 1.5 million smartphone in the first half of 2017, according to IDC. Interestingly the company was able to sell almost double the amount of smartphones in Q3 2017 compared to Q1 & Q2, 2017 together. This shows the demand for Nokia smartphones is growing stronger, and we can expect the demand to grow further in Q4, 2017 due to festive season.

"With in quarters of its re-entry in the market Nokia HMD quickly graduated to the 3rd spot in the feature phone segment. Nokia's smartphones have also been well received in the market making it grow rapidly in recent quarters. The brands sentimental value within dealers and customers paired with quality smartphone launches is helping Nokia gain further market share," Counterpoint Research was quoted as saying.

The best thing about Nokia phones is its sturdy build quality and software updates. HMD has been rolling out monthly security update for its devices without fail. Moreover it has already updated one of its devices, the Nokia 8 to Oreo, and beta testing the same software for Nokia 5 and Nokia 6. Others will get the Oreo beta soon. Most importantly, HMD has also promised Android P for its entire portfolio of Android devices as well.

Yes, the company should work on improving the pricing strategy and specifications of Nokia smartphone in order to aggressively compete with popular brands like Xiaomi, Motorola and Honor.

What's next for Nokia? Rumor has it that HMD is planning to unveil two Nokia smartphones in January, one will be the successor of Nokia 6, and the other will be the company's most premium offering till date, the Nokia 9. Both phones will reportedly flaunt full screen display, which means the front panel will have extremely thin bezels. It is also being rumored that HMD will relaunch the keyboard toting Nokia E71, which will be a 4G feature phone running KaiOS. This is the same operating system that runs on JioPhone. 

Going forward, it will be interesting to see what surprises Nokia has in store for us in 2018.  

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