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Nokia 7 will not launch in India anytime soon, confirms HMD Global

Nokia 7, which has recently been launched in the Chinese market, is not coming to India anytime soon,

Nokia 7, Nokia 7 India launch, Nokia 7 specifications, Nokia 7 price in India, Nokia 7 features, Nokia 7 price, Nokia 7 vs Nokia 8 Nokia 7 won’t be coming to India anytime soon and will remain limited to the China market.

Nokia 7, which has recently been launched in the Chinese market, is not coming to India anytime soon. In an exclusive interview with indianexpress.com, Pekka Rantala, Chief Marketing Officer, HMD Global, sets the record straight on the availability of Nokia 7 in India. “Nokia 7 is designed for Chinese consumers, so currently we���ve no plans to bring it to India”, Rantala said on the sidelines of Nokia 2 launch in India.

Not all of its phones are designed to cater to the global audience and that might be the reason why HMD Global has no plans to launch its Nokia 7 in the Indian market. For instance, Nokia 8 which is the company’s flagship phone didn’t make it to the US and China. However, India was one of the first international markets to witness the launch of Nokia 8.

Nokia 7 is positioned somewhere between the Nokia 8 and Nokia 6. The mid-end smartphone features a 5.2-inch 1080p LCD screen along with a Snapdragon 630 processor and up to 6GB of RAM. The marquee feature is the “bothie” camera from the flagship Nokia 8.

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On Tuesday, the Finnish startup launched the Nokia 2, it’s first attempt to make a low-end Android smartphone catering to the mass market audience. HMD Global chose India as the launchpad for the Nokia 2, something that tells a lot about how critical the market is for the company.  The phone has a 4100mAh battery and runs Android Nougat with Google Assistant built-in. It will retail for 99 Euros globally (or approx Rs 7454). The company said the device will be available from mid-November, although the India launch plans have not been disclosed just yet.

The company is bullish about the prospects of the newly launched Nokia 2 in India, which dominated by feature phones.  The Finnish start-up says the feature phones and smartphones will continue to co-exist in the Indian market. HMD Global is one of the few mainstream companies left that continues to launch feature phones in the market. “We want to respect feature phone users; we want to offer a choice to consumers. We don’t see any overlapping in our offering. We have great choices; consumers can decide”, Rantala told indianexpress.com

Festive offer

Rantala, however acknowledged the fact that some feature phone users are open to migrating to smartphones with advanced features such as 4G LTE connectivity and bigger screens. India has recently beaten the US to become the second-largest smartphone market after China, according to market research firm Canalys. The scope of selling low-end smartphones like the Nokia 2 is huge for HMD Global, which has the exclusive rights to manufacture and distribute Nokia-branded phones.

HMD Global has so far launched four smartphones (Nokia 3, 5, 6 and 8) in India. Although Rantala did not share the exact numbers, he says the response has been phenomenal. “We have got great response to the Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 6, and Nokia 8 in India. Their NPS (Net promoter score) for all these phones are record high,”  Rantala said.

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“And we never had such high score for any former Nokia phone. People are praising the quality, the finishing, the materials,and all the right things Nokia has been known for. Of course, they are also praising the camera and imaging capabilities on the phones”, he added.


 

Anuj Bhatia is a personal technology writer at Indianexpress.com who has spent a decade covering gadgets, apps, and gaming. He specialises in writing longer-form feature articles and explainers on trending tech topics. His unique interests encompass delving into vintage tech and composing in-depth narratives on the intersection of history, technology, and popular culture. Prior to joining The Indian Express in late 2016, he served as a senior tech writer at My Mobile magazine and previously held roles as a reviewer and tech writer at Gizbot. Anuj holds a postgraduate degree from Banaras Hindu University. You can find Anuj on Linkedin. ... Read More

First uploaded on: 01-11-2017 at 08:52 IST
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