HMD Global admits to killing itself with stupid naming pattern

If you are in the market for a Nokia smartphone, and wouldn’t want to have yourself thinking which is which, you might want to look out for a smartphone from a manufacturer that isn’t  HMD’s made Nokia phone. Although the HMD Global started well with a very clean and clear  product portfolio after it gained the rights to make and sell smartphones under the Nokia name at the end of 2016, it however veered off that path when it began rolling out Plus models, six-month refresh cycles, as well as old discounted models competing with newer offerings.

While churning out a series of smartphones that covers every price segment seems to be a good approach, it does makes it very difficult to keep track of them after a few years, and what is more, it causes a kind of confusion in the mind of intending buyers.

Pranav Shroff, Global Portfolio GM, at HMD Global in a chat with Gadgets360 admitted the firm had a clear product strategy in 2017 when it rolled out the likes of the Nokia 5, 6, 7, and 8, but that changed in 2018 when it switched to a different strategy which it referred to as  ‘A Nokia smartphone for everyone’ — which resulted in the launch of the entry-level Nokia 1  to the high-end Nokia 8 Sirroco, and of course the Plus series in the second half of 2018. HMD’s Shroff believes that was where the confusion began to set in.

While he admitted the firm did a good job of covering every price segment, like churning out 12 products in a market like India, He did admit it failed to make the product naming clear for consumers.

“We owe it to our consumers — and generally everybody — to make sure its [the product portfolio] clear. If we have not made that clear, and I agree that we haven’t, then that is something we need to work on better”, he added.

Ok so that’s just in the past, HMD Global looks set to make amend. Shroff hinted that the firm might be ditching these confusing names, and rebrand to something cleaner, perhaps cut down a little on the number of or even kill the plus model which he admitted was at the center of the confusion.

 “we will make sure that we will bring the simplicity back, and the clarity of our naming back to how we had envisioned it to be”