Nokia licensor HMD Global scores $230m from Google, Qualcomm, and, er... Nokia

Nokia licensor HMD Global is quids in after securing $230m in funding from a bevy of biz "partners" including Google, Qualcomm, and Nokia Technologies. That's a huge chunk of change considering we're in one of the worst periods for the smartphone industry ever. Coronavirus has forced many to reconsider their luxury purchases, …

[rcxb]

That's a huge chunk of change considering we're in one of the worst periods for the smartphone industry ever.

Where else are you going to invest your money just now? Might as well take a bit of a chance on an industry that won't be shut-down, and a company that might be able to turn a profit on the investment.

[mark l 2]

I own a Nokia 5.1 and pretty happy with it. I knew that they were now made by HMD global but until i read this article I actually thought HMD was a Asia company not European.

[martinusher]

I've got a cheap Chinese phone, a Honor 9X, and its really a difficult product to go up against. -- I describe it as "having about twice the spec of an iPhone SE at about half the price".

(Sure, we can go on about how we're preventing the Chinese from buying components to make phones and the like but does anyone seriously believe that this situation is going to last very long? The Chinese see this embargo as a threat to their national sovereignty and will do whatever it takes to fix the technology gap. Meanwhile it was reported a few days ago that Qalcomm is missing out on many billions in sales because of the US ban (and so is lobbying the administration for an export license).

[Kevin McMurtrie]

8.3's trick

It promises to be the perfect travel phone with a headphone jack, microSd slot, and pretty much all the LTE/NR bands.

Count me in if that's true and it doesn't become carrier-locked like the LG V60 did. My Galaxy S9+ is wearing out.

[NeilPost]

Microsoft Fail

Microsoft could not pry market share away from Apple and Android because ....... they neglected the App ecosystem. End of.

If they had simply paid the manufacturers $$$$’s to do missing apps - or done themselves with their agreement - Windows Phone would have thrived as it was largely equivalent to iOS and Android.

Oh fucking Windows Phone 7 and RT users over with new dead-end hardware did nit help one jot either.... and Nokia killing Map/Go too....

[werdsmith]

It would be nice if there was an alternative option to Android so Nokia branded HMD phones could become a refuge from Apple/Google.

It’s OK to talk about Chinese phones having twice the spec of an Apple phone for half the price, or having much better specs but in the end if it’s running a low rent OS it’s still a low rent phone.

[NeilPost]

Go ask Samsung about Tizen or HP about Palm.

... or Huawei about Harmony :-)

[MacroRodent]

KaiOS

> Go ask Samsung about Tizen or HP about Palm.

Or HMD about KaiOS. It is used for example in the reanimated Nokia 8110 4G (the banana phone).

I'm actually considering it, after hearing it does WhatsApp. The size of the modern smartphones (currently Nokia 5.1) is literally tearing holes in my trousers pocket...

[my fingers stuck]

HMD Global scores $230m

i was enjoying thw article about HMD Global, but my reading ended when i read " The backstory here requires some explanation." why o why is everyone following like sheep and dropping the word " history"

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: KaiOS - what I'd really like in a phone OS ...

What I'd really like in a phone that would allow me to dump iOS and Android (I run both as I'm a dev) is simple.

- 3G for calls and texts.

- Contacts, email, and MP3 player (as per a feature phone not an app store).

- Built-in apps for 2-factor auth and password management.

- All the above backing up as encrypted files (my passwords) to a folder in a major cloud provider.

- No app store, and no account needed on the phone other than for the previous item.

That setup would be pretty self-contained, do the minimum needed for my work (2-factor and passwords), avoid lock-in ('my' cloud storage), and be (relatively) proof against obsolescence for a fair few years.

[Kevin McMurtrie]

Re: KaiOS - what I'd really like in a phone OS ...

I don't know about where you live, but 3G has rapidly shrinking coverage in the US. 3G never had the bandwidth to work well here so it's better off as 4G or 5G spectrum..

A possible alternative is a LineageOS compatible phone. You can build the OS from your own code branch easily enough. You can install app bundles made for low-end phones, if desired.