Eyeing aggressive growth in India, Finnish company HMD Global — which sells the iconic Nokia brand of phones — is working hard towards manufacturing its own components in the country.
HMD Global got the licence in 2016 to sell Nokia-branded devices for the next 10 years and displayed its first line-up last year.HMD Global is also mulling about expanding its portfolio to enter all price segments in India.
ET Telecom has reported that the company, which has sold 70 million Nokia devices globally, has grown its business nearly five times in the past eight months in India.
“We are following the phased manufacturing programme. In line with this, we have started having conversations with our partner Foxconn to manufacture our own components in the country,” Ajey Mehta, Vice President and Country Head-India, HMD Global, told IANS in an interview.
“It will happen over a period of time. We may be a little behind, but it will eventually happen and the components that attract import duty will be manufactured here,” Mehta added.
The company said it will also work with Foxconn to set up surface-mount technology lines. “It will take some time, but we will do that for sure,” Mehta told IANS.
Highlighting the importance of feature phones, Mehta said: “The end game is to be a full-range player. Feature phones are also a big opportunity. We will continue to invest in feature phones and refresh some of them over a period of time”.
HMD Global has also launched Nokia “Mobile Shop” — its own online shop for all Nokia handsets and accessories in India. “We are truly running a worldwide business now. We are serious about consumers in India, including those using feature phones,” said Pekka Rantala, Chief Marketing Officer, HMD Global.
