HMD Fusion Is What Lumia Never Was: HMD’s Ravi Kunwar

Months after dropping the iconic Nokia branding and announcing HMD officially stands for "Human Mobile Devices", the Finnish handset maker says its latest HMD Fusion smartphone is a new smartphone altogether with no inspiration being drawn from the iconic Nokia Lumia. 

Unlike HMD Skyline, which was a doppelganger of Nokia Lumia, the new HMD Fusion is a brand new phone.

“So Fusion, absolutely is a new, a new device. I think there is no hint of Lumia and as you said, Lumia was an iconic device for Nokia,” Ravi Kunwar, CEO And Vice President, India and APAC at HMD, told Acko Byte.

Also read: HMD Fusion Modular Smartphone That Can Be Repaired Launched In India: Price, Features, More

HMD Fusion Highly Customisable, Nothing Like Lumia

While HMD Skyline was said to be similar to Nokia Lumia, HMD says the new Fusion is nothing like Lumia, even as it focuses on bringing classic Nokia phones to the India market.

“So while we continue to bring the classic Nokia devices… There is obviously a big fan base for Nokia. For HMD, it is more of a youth and young and aspirational brand and that's how we kind of positioned it and it is reflective in the choice of partnerships which we've done,” noted Kunwar.

Inspiration Behind HMD Fusion

Asked what was the inspiration behind making HMD Fusion, Kunwar explained: “Right from a design language point of view, the Tech block concept I think is being introduced for the very first time. It was never the case with Lumia phones.”

“Tech block is more for a developer's approach. But I would say personalisation it is for an average consumer. If I'm a gaming enthusiast, I would want the best of gaming experience to come and when I'm out and when I'm socialising, I would want the best of the selfies and I would want customisation, right? So that's what actually inspired us to make this truly personalised and customisable device,” the top executive added. 

Notably, HMD has joined hands with iconic football club FC Barcelona for the Fusion.

“The way we have integrated, the whole smart pins and hence, the smart outfit in HMD Fusion, I think it's for the very first time anyone is doing it. And what makes it even more attractive is the fact that the kind of price point at which we are bringing, this is making it really affordable to do all the consumer signals,” Kunwar noted.

HMD's Eyes Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000 Segment In India

Earlier, HMD announced its partnership with Mattel where it introduced the Barbie phone. The handset maker is now focussed on expanding its presence in the Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000 segment in India, which is the fastest growing, thanks to the increasing 5G adoption.

“So currently the market has shifted to 5G, so almost 75 per cent-80 per cent of devices getting sold have 5G, although the use cases and availability of 5G across multiple touch points is something which is growing.The price point between Rs 15,000-Rs 2, 000 rupees is where there's a lot of meaningful innovation happening,” Kunwar noted.