The company that makes Nokia smartphones, HMD Global, announced that it will introduce smartphones under its own brand in the first half of 2024. India, a priority market for the company, may see the release of HMD-branded devices first. According to HMD Global Vice President of India and APAC Ravi Kunwar, "India is a critical market regarding the outlook and performance of HMD-branded devices," ET was informed. He continued by saying that the business might take an "India-first" stance when it comes to HMD-branded products, such as smartphones.

According to Kunwar, HMD will produce all phones sold under the new brand in India and may begin exporting to other countries. "The Indian government is pushing Indian and related entities to spearhead the entire manufacturing ecosystem. This is how the entire India opportunity fits in. The executive mentioned that India has the potential to produce significant supply chain initiatives. "There could be product design initiatives which could come out of India." In contrast to the Nokia-branded portfolio, the HMD-branded smartphone lineup will target distinct consumer segments while maintaining price parity across segments.

Under the Nokia brand, HMD is currently collaborating with Dixon, Lava, and Foxconn to produce feature phones and smartphones in India. It has also begun exporting its feature phone to markets in Africa.

He predicted that 2023 will be a turning point for the feature phone industry, which has seen rapid growth in the previous year. "The overall market is growing, and we are growing share with that." In an effort to increase sales of its Nokia smartphones, HMD and DMI Finance introduced HMD Easy Pay, a financing program. It anticipates that 25–30% of the new smartphone sales will be made possible by this new financing program for the business.