HMD at MWC 2024: Barbie flip phone, HMD phone to be launched later this year

HMD Global, best known for its Nokia-branded phones, announced its rebranding plans on Sunday (February 25) at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024 event in Barcelona. The Finnish phone maker revealed it will launch a Barbie-branded flip phone in partnership with Mattel later this year. The company also released an image hinting at a pink color scheme for the upcoming retro feature phone. Additionally, HMD is planning to launch another iconic Nokia phone design this year.

HMD stands for Human Mobility Device, comfirmed The rebranding effort during MWC 2024 marks a new direction for the company. The company, which has been selling phones exclusively under the Nokia brand for the past seven years, has revealed plans to launch smartphones with its own HMD name. It will follow a multi-brand strategy to produce HMD original devices and continue selling Nokia phones. HMD says it will make phones that are “affordable, beautiful, desirable and repairable.”

The smartphone maker confirmed plans to launch a Barbie-branded flip phone this summer in partnership with toymaker Mattel. HMD is yet to reveal the design of its upcoming retro feature phone, but it gave us a glimpse of how it will look in pink. The company also confirmed that it will launch an “iconic Nokia phone” this summer. HMD branded smartphones will also be launched around the same time.

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Photo credit: HMD

HMDs are also designed to improve repairability and reduce the number of steps required to repair smartphone screen damage. Last year, the company partnered with repair specialist iFixit to launch the Nokia G22. The phone includes replaceable parts and a tool kit so customers can repair the phone themselves.

Furthermore, the brand expects that half of the smartphone devices sold globally in 2024 will be repairable. In addition, HMD has launched the first version of its toolkit for developers and enterprises, providing open design files and software integration information.