Nokia and HMD Global started to part ways last year, which included de-listing Nokia-branded phones from hmd.com and replacing most with corresponding HMD-branded models. But the Nokia brand may live on in the phone world if the Finnish company finds another partner.
On the Nokia sub-reddit, a Nokia Community Manager posted that the company is open to collaborating with a “large scale mobile manufacturer”. Of course, the words of a social media account manager don’t carry much weight and Reddit isn’t the best place to find a smartphone ODM.
Nokia had licensed its brand in several different segments – Streamview made TVs, RichGo made headphones (and other smartphone accessories), OFF Global made laptops. As you can probably tell from the use of past tense, those branding deals have also come to an end.
HMD is not doing so well and recently announced that it will scale back its US operations. Nokia itself had to fend off rumors of trouble – last year, reports came out that Samsung was looking at acquiring Nokia’s network business. The Finns were quick to deny those rumors, however, and we haven’t heard anything about it since. Nokia will publish its Q2 2025 results on Thursday. In Q1, it reported an operating profit of €156 million on net sales of €4.39 billion.
Which company would you like to see pick up the Nokia brand for phones – one of the established players or another startup like HMD?