Nokia mobile phones are expected to be officially available in Iran once again. HMD Global, the Finnish company which now has the exclusive rights of Nokia phones is hoping to be able to take a share of the mobile phone market in Iran.
Iranians have fond memories of Nokia mobile phones. The company was actually the first to sell it’s mobile phone products to the public and was once the dominant of the market. The famous Nokia 3310 which was produced in the early 2000s with 126 million units sold worldwide was also a big success in Iran. In mid 2000s Nokia phones with the Symbian operating system were a huge success among Iranians, despite their hefty prices.
After the appearance of smart phones, Nokia lacked the scale and agility needed to compete with other players of the market. In 2011, Nokia made a contract with Microsoft to exclusively produce its feature smart phones with Microsoft’s Windows platform. Eventually Nokia’s mobile phone division was sold and shaped the Microsoft Mobile subsidiary. Although the new mobile phones produced under Microsoft resembled the high quality which the old Nokia phones had, the smart phones still struggled to compete with the Android and iOS phones.
After selling it’s mobile business, Nokia started to focus on its more profitable endeavor known as Nokia Networks. The Lumia phones by Nokia were branded as Microsoft phones in 2014, but later in December 2016 the Lumia line was discontinued due to poor sales. Later in mid-2016 Microsoft sold the license of Nokia’s feature phones to HMD Global a Finnish mobile maker which is trying to bring back the good memories of this company. Currently HMD Global has the exclusive rights of the brand until 2024 through a licensing agreement with Nokia.
Nokia’s new line of smartphones under HMD Global production would be using the Android OS, and its feature phones such as the new Nokia 3310 would be using the Nokia’s legacy Series 30+ platform.
Now according to Zoomit, HMD Global is looking into the Iranian market and plans to officially bring in Nokia’s new line of phones to the country. It’s yet unclear if HMD Global is planning to directly get involved or is trying to find a representative for its after-sales service in Iran.
Read: A New Deal Between Iran and Nokia Signed
Nokia had an official office in Iran up until 2012. But when the venture saw toughening global sanctions against Iran it decided to gradually reduce its activities in the country. Iratel, Nia, Arkan Ertebatat and a couple of other companies were the official representative of Nokia in Iran in the past years.
What do you think about the presence of Nokia in Iran? Do you think this brand and other companies which left the country’s tech scene during the sanction era would be able to take a piece of the Iranian market again?
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