HMD is planning to bring a Nokia-branded 5G smartphone to market in 2020, which it claims will differentiate itself from the competition by being much more affordable to what is available today.
Speaking to Digital Trends, HMD chief product officer Juho Sarvikas said the company saw an opportunity in “bringing 5G to a more affordable segment as we enter the market”, and it was working with silicon vendors, likely to be Qualcomm, and Nokia on the move.
Upon initial launch of the technology, manufacturing giants Samsung and LG have come to market at high price points for their 5G variants.
The Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G, for example, has a starting price of $1,300 while the LG V50 ThinQ costs $1000.
Sarvikas suggested Nokia would launch a 5G Nokia device in the $600 range.
“I would say affordable in relation to what’s available today. I would love to see us at half of the price where you have 5G today,” he said.
Digital Trends pointed out that Huawei and MediaTek are also working on a low-cost 5G device, although that is unlikely to launch in the US market.
Sarvikas added HMD was talking to US operators about the 5G device launch, as it continues to look at ways to expand into the market.
