In an interview, an executive for HMD Global detailed the device maker’s plans for increasing its presence and sales in the United States. Despite being a young company, HMD Global already sold more than 70 million devices over the past few years, and this sales figure allowed the tech firm to rank among the top 10 smartphone manufacturers in the world.
However, regardless of its international success, the company still found areas where it could increase smartphone sales, and one of these areas is in the United States. Pekka Rantala, the executive vice president and chief marketing officer of HMD Global, noted that the US is still one of the largest smartphone markets in the world and gaining market share in the country is important for the company’s success. However, given the dominance of Apple and Samsung in the US handset sales, Rantala admitted that it may take a long time before Nokia joins the ranks of the leading smartphone brands in the country.
At this point, several smartphones from HMD Global, including the Nokia 6.1 and the Nokia 7.1, are available in retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and Target, and the company aims to expand both its retail partnerships and its array of smartphone offerings to reach more consumers. However, HMD Global’s goal is for major carriers like Verizon and AT&T to sell its devices on its stores.
Cristian Capelli, the head of Business Development in the Americas for HMD Global, noted that it would be exceedingly difficult to sell devices in the United States, especially the flagship ones, without launching the product in partnership with at least one carrier. Once HMD Global inks a deal with a national carrier, it is possible that the company may start selling higher-end devices soon after in the United States.
Aside from increasing its sales in the United States, HMD Global will also focus on consumers younger than 35 years old. At this point, people under the age of 35 bought around two-thirds of the devices sold by the company, and the device maker aims to maintain or increase that figure since this demographic makes up what it calls as the “next-generation of Nokia users.”
In a separate report, HMD Global officials also noted that they will continue focusing on mid-range smartphones priced between $300 to $500 in hopes of further increasing its sales. Its mid-range handset offerings allowed the company to sell millions of devices, with the Nokia 6.1 being the company’s best-selling new smartphone, even though its premium smartphone products significantly underperformed.
It seems that another key selling point for the company is its participation to the Android One program, which allowed the company to incorporate stock Android experience into its devices and to deliver two years of security and software updates. An HMD Global executive noted that while there are multiple ways to differentiate their devices from the competition, the handset maker will continue to advocate for standardization of software experience. This statement suggests that HMD Global will launch more Android One smartphones soon.
While selling more than 70 million smartphones is already an incredible feat for HMD Global, there is still room to grow for the company. Aside from increasing its overall sales, improving the sales performance of its flagship devices will benefit the company through an increase in profit margins, and linkages with national carriers in the United States could provide the necessary boost to the company’s initiative of selling more higher-end smartphones.