The Nokia Smartphone Era Officially Ends: From King to Farewell, the End of an Era

The Nokia Smartphone Era Officially Ends: From King to Farewell, the End of an EraIn today's fiercely competitive smartphone market, Nokia, the former king of feature phones, has finally bid farewell to its smartphone era. HMD Global, the manufacturer and brand licensee of Nokia phones, recently announced the discontinuation of all Nokia-branded smartphones, marking the official end of Nokia's presence in the smartphone arena

The Nokia Smartphone Era Officially Ends: From King to Farewell, the End of an Era

In today's fiercely competitive smartphone market, Nokia, the former king of feature phones, has finally bid farewell to its smartphone era. HMD Global, the manufacturer and brand licensee of Nokia phones, recently announced the discontinuation of all Nokia-branded smartphones, marking the official end of Nokia's presence in the smartphone arena. This news has undoubtedly garnered widespread attention in the global tech community, leaving many former Nokia users with a sense of nostalgia.

As early as last year, HMD Global foreshadowed this outcome, announcing a gradual withdrawal from the Nokia smartphone business and the launch of its own HMD-branded phones. With the cessation of Nokia smartphone production, Nokia's official flagship stores on e-commerce platforms like JD.com and Tmall have made corresponding adjustments, removing the last domestically-produced Nokia smartphone, the Nokia C31. Currently, only a dozen Nokia feature phone models remain on platforms like JD.com and Taobao, priced between 100 and 700 yuan. HMD Global's official website has also been updated, removing all Nokia-branded smartphones and retaining only the feature phone series, with the HMD brand now taking over the former smartphone product line.

Although Nokia smartphones have been discontinued, HMD Global says it will continue selling "Nokia"-branded feature phones for some time. These feature phones will carry both "HMD" and "Nokia" branding, continuing Nokia's legacy in the feature phone market. The current consumer base for Nokia feature phones consists mainly of two groups: nostalgic users and internet users seeking to escape smartphone dependence.

Nokia's past glory remains a cherished memory for many. From the 1990s onwards, Nokia, with its robust, durable, and classically designed feature phones, held the top spot in the global mobile phone market for 15 consecutive years, becoming a symbol of an era. However, with the advent of the smartphone era, Nokia failed to seize the opportunity for development, missing out on the Android era, ultimately leading to a dramatic decline in market share.

In 2012, Nokia's Symbian operating system declined, and on December 21st of the same year, Nokia officially announced the abandonment of the Symbian brand, marking the end of an era. It's worth noting that in the same year, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei made a strategically significant decision: to develop Huawei's own mobile operating system. On January 1st, 2014, Symbian officially ceased updates and completely exited the historical stage.

Afterwards, Nokia switched to the Windows Phone operating system, attempting to regain market competitiveness on a new platform. However, the Windows Phone system didn't achieve widespread adoption like its Windows computer counterpart; its lifespan was even shorter than Symbian's. In 2016, Nokia was acquired by the Finnish company HMD Global, which obtained the exclusive right to use the Nokia brand in mobile phone and tablet businesses for ten years. Many employees of HMD Global came from the original Nokia mobile phone business team and the Microsoft terminal team, allowing the Nokia brand to continue.

After taking over the Nokia brand, HMD Global began producing Nokia smartphones powered by Android, attempting to create a "new Nokia." In 2017, HMD Global launched its first Nokia-branded Android smartphone, the Nokia 6, targeting the Chinese market. Over the next six years, HMD Global consistently released various models of Nokia-branded Android smartphones, including the Nokia 7, Nokia 8, Nokia 9 PureView, Nokia X series, and Nokia XR20. However, these smartphones did not perform well in the market.

Starting in 2023, HMD Global gradually reduced its reliance on the Nokia brand and began focusing on its own HMD-branded phones. Eight years have passed since the launch of the first Nokia-branded smartphone. Now, Nokia smartphones have officially exited the market, marking the complete end of the Nokia smartphone era.

According to the brand licensing agreement between HMD Global and Nokia, the license expires next March. If the two parties fail to renew, the future of Nokia-branded phones will become highly uncertain, and they may even disappear entirely.

Nokia once dominated the global market with its "robust and durable" quality and classic design. However, as the smartphone wave swept the globe, Nokia failed to adapt to market changes, missing crucial junctures in the mobile phone industry's development, ultimately leading to its decline.

According to media reports, several Nokia employees had foreseen the immense potential of the original iPhone. The day after the original iPhone's launch in January 2007, a nine-person team at Nokia submitted an internal report pointing out that the iPhone's touchscreen UI and integrated internet applications would be the future trend of the mobile phone industry, and recommending that Nokia develop similar touchscreen UI technology. However, Nokia's senior management didn't take the report seriously, missing a chance to overtake the competition.

The day before the iPhone's launch, Nokia still held approximately 50% of the global market share. Nokia's executive team couldn't imagine that the iPhone's appearance would completely reshape the mobile phone industry and, within just seven years, pull Nokia down from its peak.

Nokia is a fond memory for many, carrying the youthful memories of generations. The end of the Nokia smartphone era makes us reflect on the changes of time. Nokia's story is not only the rise and fall of a company but also a microcosm of the changing times. What are some of your unforgettable stories with Nokia? Share them in the comments section.