End of an era, again: Production of all Nokia smartphones officially ceases

It is an end of an era for a brand once dominant in mobile technology, as HMD Global officially confirmed the discontinuation of all Nokia-branded smartphones by moving them to a separate category on HMD's website, symbolising their formal withdrawal from the company's active product portfolio.

Finnish company Nokia, which once dominated the mobile phone market, struggled in the late 2000s due to the growing popularity of iOS, Blackberry and Android smartphones.

HMD Global acquired the rights to the Nokia brand in 2016 after Microsoft's unsuccessful venture with Lumia smartphones. HMD had intentions to manufacture and sell Nokia-branded phones and smartphones, including some classics, in hopes of a brand revival.

However, despite efforts to innovate and release new models, such as the Nokia 9 PureView, Nokia's Android smartphones failed to regain the former glory and market share that Nokia once held.

In recent months, HMD shifted focus towards developing its own brand of devices not under the Nokia name and on January 11, 2025, removed all Nokia smartphones from its website and categorised them as "discontinued" across several global markets.

In addition to smartphones, Nokia-branded tablets have also been discontinued, which means buyers who still want to, can only get their hands on the Nokia smartphones and tablets on third-party shopping platforms.

For those who are interested in a peak of Nokia's history in mobile phone making which defined an era, a digital museum by Finland's Aalto University, called the Nokia Design Archive will officially go live on January 15.

Featuring over 700 exhibits which include stories, images, as well as rare and unseen prototypes.

The Nokia brand continues to exist in the conventional handset segment though. The company itself has over the years successfully moved into network infrastructure and telecoms, becoming a leader in 5G, cloud computing and Internet of Things technologies.