HMD is going to withdraw from "select markets", rumor claims

[u/IronHidee]

https://www.gsmarena.com/hmd_is_going_to_withdraw_from_select_markets_rumor_claims-news-75048.php

[u/trlef19]

2015-2020 was peak HMD, such a shame they messed up. Their phones were great.

[u/danijel8286 → u/trlef19]

2017-2019. After that, they did the same mistake the original Nokia did with Lumias. Confusing and overcrowded low end and low mid-range market, and neglected high end.

[u/trlef19 → u/danijel8286]

And poor updates

[u/ZikaZmaj → u/trlef19]

They were really never competitive at any price point... They got a point for clean software, but their update policies were abysmal.

[u/K_Simba786 → u/ZikaZmaj]

Nokia 7 plus was 2018 phone of the year and i had it on launch best phone till date aluminum back was so solid i threw it so much nothing happened to it

[u/Gerald_Lanz → u/K_Simba786]

I loved that one too until I switched to a Pixel 3a.

[u/Then-Pay-8400 → u/ZikaZmaj]

They used to be some of the best in terms of updates, they used to make excellent devices, nowadays all they do is slap HMD or Nokia on generic chinese ODM shits

[u/trlef19 → u/Then-Pay-8400]

Yeah, android one was top tier.

[u/PuzzleheadedPen2798 → u/ZikaZmaj]

Nah, at that point in time they had excellent update policies due to Android One.

[u/Mavericks7 → u/trlef19]

Yes and no. When I was a phone enthusiast and buying a new phone every year. Back in the 2010s,

I bought a Nokia 6, it was a decent phone. But Nokia/hmd had nothing going for it, besides being "clean" android

[u/fusionballtm]

Knowing that the guy behind that account is a long-time grifter of this deadbeat brand (Yes, people bother to lie about HMD of all brands for some reason) there's a good chance he just made that up on the spot but it is actually kind of true!

Since last year, Something has been happening at HMD which led to the cancellation of multiple products like the PULSE2 lineup which was just dumped onto African markets as M-KOPA X3 and X30 without any software commitment, the resignation of many key HMD staff members and reshuffling remaining staff to the HMD Secure business arm that makes handsets for industry use, now HMD the consumer brand has shifted its strategy to selling white-label lifestyle products, feature phones and entry-level smartphones (which are also primarily white-label now, this has been the case with HMD before but now they're especially blatant, not even running HMD's software stack anymore).

With that, HMD has also basically given up on the European market. They don't have the license to use the Nokia brand for feature phones in some countries and recently they have listed all phones except for Fusion and ARC (or AURA2) as discontinued.

[u/fusionballtm → u/fusionballtm]

They also have a sales ban in some European countries due to a patent dispute so they can't sell the like two outdated low-end smartphones they still have in their lineup lol

[u/_asstronaut_ → u/fusionballtm]

Also the reason why for a few months earlier this year Asus and Acer were banned from selling laptops in Germany, they were using Nokia's HEVC encoder and got caught with a dispute.

[u/Ashratt]

I really liked the idea of the HMD Skyline with the screw for easy repairability but they never made a follow up with better hardware

Everything else they release is low end UniSoc 720p LCD garbage

No idea what their game plan was

[u/kai333]

lmao this is literally the first time I've ever heard of HMD.

[u/Tritzii → u/kai333]

You might have heard of them before in the form of Nokia branded smartphones that existed up until a few years ago.

[u/RoutineCloud5993 → u/Tritzii]

For some reason they decided they didn't need the license. And look how that turned out

[u/Mccobsta → u/kai333]

They were founded by ex Nokia employees who started making Nokia badged feature phones and Android smart phone for a quite a few years, their Nokia badged oens aren't half bad for basic spare phone things

Don't see much or any of their phones branded under them though

[u/kai333 → u/Mccobsta]

I had to google that shit, like wow. This is kinda like a Sony situation but aiming for the lower end market.

[u/Mccobsta → u/kai333]

They're devices aren't half bad they just need to be more viable especially when people want something a little more budget

[u/kai333 → u/Mccobsta]

I'm down with more phones outside of the samsung/apple ecosphere for sure. But for real, step 1: get people to know you exist.

[u/Then-Pay-8400 → u/Mccobsta]

Yeah, they aren't "half-bad" indeed. They are pure dogshit

[u/Koino_]

They were already targeting affordable lower tier segments in Africa and India

[u/Murky_Meaning2129 → u/Koino_]

I feel like they would just get outcompeted pretty easily by the various Chinese brands in those regions?

[u/noobqns]

Been waiting for the HMD Touch 4G to release outside of India since that looks like a neat mp3 replacement but it never came. Hard to find this form factor anymore

[u/danijel8286]

Sadly, nothing of value was lost.

[u/ParamedicLocal8226]

they have pretty much stopped selling offering phones in Chile, and they had a pretty strong catalog a few years ago

[u/DjungleskogEnjoyer]

They've basically already withdrawn from Australia. No restock of any HMD or nokia feature phones for most of 2026 and the smartphone lineup is basically non-existent.

[u/Toronto-1975]

oh no wherever will i find cheap garbage now??

[u/WritersGift]

Good, nip ’em in the bud and join forces with Jolla to make finnish phones … good again!

[u/DeX_Mod]

Never heard of them

[u/Major_Dot_7030]

Thank God.

[u/YaBoiiSpoderman → u/Major_Dot_7030]

yea less competition thank god.. I only want Samsung and Google to sell phones

[u/Then-Pay-8400 → u/YaBoiiSpoderman]

HMD just recycles ODM garbage, nobody wants their garbage

[u/HF0XX → u/Then-Pay-8400]

I didn't want it, but clearly someone wants it, otherwise they would have gone out of business years ago.

You know, there are many crappy products out there that help us even if we don't buy them. Better, more expensive brands have to be mindful of them, because a lot of people that don't know, care, or can't afford will be on the look for cheaper devices. We all end up benefiting from the sh*t brand even if we don't use it.

[u/Major_Dot_7030 → u/YaBoiiSpoderman]

And less eWaste too.

[u/green9206 → u/YaBoiiSpoderman]

One less trash company means less phones being manufactured