Why Nokia is rebooting another retro smartphone, even though experts say it won’t lead again

IT WAS once the most powerful mobile phone brand in the world. Now analysts say Nokia’s strategy of reissuing modern versions of its best known phones is paying off.

GET ready for a phone blast from the past.

Former technology giant Nokia returned to the world’s biggest mobile phone show to reboot another retro handset today, this time revealing a 4G version of the sliding phone made famous in 1999 film, The Matrix.

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And far from a glitch in the market, analysts say the former tech giant’s strategy of reissuing modern versions of its best known phones is paying off, and had even won it top spot in some emerging nations.

The newly released retro Nokia 8110.

Nokia launched its rebooted version of the 8100 handset the day before Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Monday, with the device once dubbed “the banana phone” for its curved, slide-out plate now coming in yellow as well as black.

The new version of the old phone will sell for $123 when it’s released in Europe this May, but its Australian launch has yet to be confirmed.

The company will launch its first high-end Nokia smartphone of the new era, the Nokia 8 Sirocco, in Australia, however, offering a 5.5-inch screen, 13-megapixel camera, and metal body for $1199.

Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri speaks at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Florian Seiche, chief executive of HMD Global that relaunched the Nokia brand at Mobile World Congress last year, said the company had now shipped more than 70 million handsets.

“This time last year, we started our journey with huge expectations from fans and a massive responsibility to deliver on the legacy of one of the most innovative brands in our space,” he said.

“Since then we have reintroduced well-loved icons, (and) forged partnerships with friends old and new.”

While the brand had a long way to go to regain its peak popularity, Counterpoint Research analyst Neil Shah said Nokia had returned from the brink to claim one per cent of all smartphone sales, rank 11th for smartphone sales globally, and claim top spot in Vietnam within just 12 months.

“This should be one of the most successful comeback stories for a brand after falling off a cliff,” he said.

“Still some strong muscle memory out there, but kudos to HMD Global to leverage this and scale the brand, product, (and) operations really well in just 12 months.”

Nokia will struggle to compete with world beaters Apple and Samsung.

Telsyte research director Foad Fadaghi said the brand would struggle to relive its glory days completely, however, as markets including Australia were “dominated by two manufacturers that enjoy high levels of loyalty,” in Apple and Samsung.

Despite Nokia’s comeback success, another retro brand was absent from the Barcelona event.

BlackBerry is rumoured to have delayed the launch of its latest keyboard-friendly smartphone until next month, following reports it sold just 170,000 handsets in the last three months of 2017.

BlackBerry chief commercial officer Francois Mahieu said the company still maintained bigger ambitions regardless of gloomy predictions for the once popular email powerhouses.

“It doesn’t have to be a niche business,” Mr Mahieu said.

“I would not be satisfied with market share in premium (handsets) that is sub-one per cent forever.”

By comparison, current smartphone leader Apple sold more than 77 million handsets during the same period.

Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson travelled to Barcelona as a guest of Samsung.

Originally published as Why Nokia is rebooting another retro smartphone, even though experts say it won’t lead again