Newsletter
In an interview with CNET, HMD CEO Florian Seiche stated that the Nokia 6 (2018) with Android One will definitely be seeing the light of day in the US officially in just a few months, May to be exact, but that HMD Global wouldn’t be partnering with US carriers just yet. That means that potential buyers would need to go to HMD’s official Nokia website, or any number of online retailers like Amazon, to buy an unlocked Nokia 6.
Given that Amazon already sells the 2017 version of the Nokia 6, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to see this business model return for the second-generation mid-range Nokia phone. In addition to this, there are now rumors that the Nokia 1 and the Nokia 7 Plus will also be making their way to US shores around the same timeframe, with the Nokia 7 Plus likely pushing closer to fall than early summer this year. Once again, these would be unlocked devices, not sold through typical carrier channels where most Americans still purchase their phones, despite higher costs than buying directly through manufacturers or online retailers.
HMD Global has exclusive rights to the Nokia brand through an agreement between the two Finnish companies, which seeks to revive the once industry-leading Nokia brand. Nokia has taken the top 5 spot in a number of countries since launching its first Android phones in 2017, and the brand is looking to continue expanding that presence worldwide. It’s a big feat to achieve these kinds of numbers in such a short amount of time, but with plenty of Nokia fans waiting in the wings after the poor performance of the Microsoft Lumia years, the relaunched brand is likely to continue growing moving forward. Launching its latest phones under the Android Go brand will only help matters too, at least among the enthusiast crowd that HMD now appears to be catering to. A vanilla Android experience coupled with Project Treble support facilitating frequent security updates and other software additions at least partially seeks to appeal to past owners of the Nexus-series devices that used to offer similar benefits. While the Pixel lineup now boasts comparable features, HMD is primarily seeking to penetrate non-premium market segments, with one exception being the newly announced Nokia 8 Sirocco.