Joseph Umunakwe is the General Manager, HMD Global: West, East and Central Africa. He spoke to chike Onwuegbuchi about HMD Global’s commitment to building on its heritage and delivering trusted and secure Nokia smartphones that are built to last, in 2021 and beyond.

How did HMD Global deal with the effects of the pandemic, the quietness and the launch of its new products?

2020 did change the entire global business operating landscape and shifted mind-sets on ways of working. We are proud of the team at HMD Global – we came together and pulled through an extremely challenging year. Now, we are stronger than ever.

In 2020, we were the first brand to launch a truly universal 5G device capable of global roaming and optimized for the future. In a world that is now more dependent on virtual, seamless, always-on connection, the ability to connect from anywhere has become vital to so many Consumers.

Nokia smartphones led the Counterpoint Research 2020 trust rankings based on the four pillars of software, security updates, build quality, and devices recommended for enterprises for the second year running.

In August 2020, as an affirmation of their trust in us, our partners – this includes Google, Qualcomm and Nokia – invested 230 million in our business.

Despite the challenges of an extremely difficult year, we were able to strengthen our position and commitment to delivering trusted devices that are secure and built to last, across our range of Feature phones and Smartphones.

Improving Nokia brand market share and visibility in Nigeria

Nokia Mobile is well known in the Nigerian market. Our Finnish heritage of quality, durability and trust continues to resonate with our fans. We believe that mobile technology can enhance the lives of consumers everywhere and we continue to focus on bringing the best innovation that will usher in digital inclusiveness in Nigeria and other markets in our region.

We give consumers reason to choose us by focusing on eliminating their pain-points, offering premium experiences at affordable price-points and lowering the cost of ownership. Consumer experience is at the heart of our strategy. We innovate for the benefit of the consumer.

For example, we are expanding our affordable 4G smartphone range and working hard to ensure our fans get top specifications at the right price point because 4G is the new baseline, leaving users of 2G and 3G more vulnerable to uncertainty.

Uniqueness of Nokia mobile devices from other smartphone brands in Nigeria

Simply put, Nokia devices are trusted, secure and built to last. The durability and reliability that you remember from Nokia phones in the past is still the core of our promise today. Your Nokia phone stays with you for longer.

Each Nokia smartphone receives three years of monthly security updates and two years of software upgrades. In addition, we offer our standard one-year product warranty thereby giving peace of mind to our fans.

Our devices have a purposeful Nordic design characterized by functionality. With our signature two-day battery life, the latest Android operating software – we recently released Android 11 on our Nokia 8.3 5G, our customers can unleash their creative instincts and stay connected to what matters most to them.

In fact, in October 2020, Counterpoint Research revealed that Nokia phones led the trust rankings based on the four pillars of software, security updates, build quality, and devices recommended for enterprises for the second year in a row.

We deliver the fastest and most regular software and security updates among Android devices. We have released over 1000-plus software updates in the past four years to ensure phones are updated longer than the industry average.

Engagement with dealers some of whom also market other phone brands

We are a company built on a unique partnership model. Our dealers are our partners and partnership is very important to us. They are an extension of our promise to enhance the lives of our consumers.

As a result, we place a priority on building close relationships with each of them, working to understand their businesses. Our market representatives are almost constant fixtures at their stores, seeking to understand and clarify their needs.

It comes back to our values of trust and building on our heritage of reliability. Nokia is a brand people already trust. We intend to maintain that across the spectrum, whether with our partners or our fans.

Support to dealers with the required advertisement and promotions, considering the possible conflict of interest that would exist

We take the responsibility of supporting our partners seriously. Our various marketing and communication activities are aimed at creating awareness and driving foot traffic to our local partner stores.

We support our dealers through our communications activities, including them where necessary in our promotion content and signposting them. Our priority is to develop and build win-win relationships that will stand the test of time. As mentioned earlier, trust is an important value for us as a business.

As our fans trust us to deliver quality devices, we trust our partners to deliver our promise to the last mile consumer anywhere they may be. For example, during the Covid-19 pandemic and the attendant lockdowns, we stayed close to our channel partners and continued to deliver much needed products to both people on the frontlines and our consumers.

What Nigerian consumers should expect from Nokia mobile this year

Our focus on enhancing the lives of our consumers remains core to our business. Therefore, we will continue to deliver on our strategic pillars in both 5G, and affordable 4G.

We want to make mobile technology accessible to Nigerians. Our fans in Nigeria can certainly expect to see affordable smartphones with premium features that provide them with innovative experiences.

We will continue to innovate across multiple platforms and business segments to deliver value to our fans both in Nigeria and elsewhere.