Back in September, HMD Global announced it will expand its product portfolio to have a comprehensive ecosystem of HMD-branded products. These will include smartphones, feature phones, IoT devices just to name a few.
HMD Global has been making and selling Nokia branded devices for over 6 years. The company is responsible for the re-introduction of the Nokia smartphones running on Android. Since then, it has built a good reputation with consumers and retailers alike as being a reliable manufacturer.
The M-KOPA X1
The M-KOPA X1 is a smartphone model that represents a significant shift for both HMD Global and M-KOPA.. As HMD Global transitions to producing its own branded devices, the M-KOPA X1 is expected to be one of the first smartphones to bear the “Designed by HMD” branding.
HMD has updated its online user manual showing drawings of a phone with the “TA-1585” model code.
The manual shows the M-KOPA logo indicating that the phone may be designed by HMD Global for M-KOPA. According to Nokiamob, this phone looks like a rebranded version of the Nokia C32 that is already on the market. The Nokia C32 is available in Kenya for around Ksh 16,500 and my guess is the M-KOPA X1 will be available within the same price range.
The “Designed by HMD” branding is at the back of the phone. M-KOPA has a few Nokia smartphones it is selling through its financing platform that allows buyers to pay a deposit and get a smartphone. They then pay the balance in installments over several weeks/months.
If the M-KOPA X1 is a rebranded Nokia C32, here are some of its key specifications we expect to see when it launches.What are your thoughts on the new direction HMD Global is taking? Let me know in the comments below and on Twitter. Follow TechArena_KE on Twitter while you are there.
