HMD Global, the licensee of Nokia-branded smartphones, has become the first major smartphone company to manufacture devices in Europe, with its first 5G model made in Hungary — targeted at customers keen on data security — now available for purchase.
“We are thrilled to be manufacturing the Nokia XR21, our signature rugged 5G smartphone, in Europe,” HMD Global co-founder, chairman and CEO Jean-Francois Baril said on Tuesday.
“We are dedicated to investing in security, technology and manufacturing processes that make our devices more secure and longer lasting.”
Before HMD opened its Hungarian operations, Europe had no large-scale smartphone manufacturing as major companies like Apple and Samsung manufacture their phones in Asia to cut costs.
HMD said the first European model was designed for enterprise customers, some of whom had requested additional security in conjunction with their IT security partners.
The company already stores data in the European Union, with consumer and corporate data from all of its smartphones held and processed on servers in Finland since 2019.
The company signed in 2016 an exclusive 10-year licensing agreement with Nokia Oyj, once the world’s largest phone maker, to create Nokia-branded smartphones and tablets.
It said in March it would commence manufacturing in the European Union, which has been encouraging companies to set up production in key sectors such as semiconductors.
The Nokia XR21 European edition is priced from EUR 649 (nearly Rs. 56,500), the company said.
A limited edition of 30 units from the European production line in gilded platinum will be available for purchase from the company’s website from EUR 699, it said.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
