Nokia's is back again with good plans for Nigerians

In this conversation with the man leading the charge, Joseph Umunnakwe, we learn about Nokia's Nigerian history, and some insights into the future.

Nigeria’s most popular brand in our mobile phone history, HMD Global's Nokia, is making a solid comeback to take on the market with devices powered by pure Android.

You know it, you just know it when you hear that tune and see those hands holding each other. Almost every Nigerian household that had a phone had a Nokia Phone, with a 70% market share globally.

Then one day, it looked like all the Nokia phones were swept away by the smartphone tides. What is actually fact is that Nokia never really left.

We had an interesting conversation with Joseph Umunnakwe, the man leading the charge for Nokia in West, East and Central Africa. 

“Nokia has always been in the market,” Joseph said, “our phones never went out of circulation.”

Joseph Umunnakwe, General Manager of HMD Global in East, West, and Central Africa. HMD Global are the makers of Nokia phones under licence.

When the smartphone tide took Nigeria, it came with an expensive wave, but Nokia already had the mass market on lock down, with the budget-friendly options.

The Xpressmusic series was a cheaper alternative for Nigerians and users who couldn't afford smartphones. (GSM Arena)

That didn’t last for long, because as more smartphones entered the market, especially with the Android wave, prices dropped, and slowly, smartphones became mainstream. 

Nokia tried to give this market a shot when Microsoft came on board. That didn’t turn out well, and Nokia seems to have put that phase behind them, permanently.

The Microsoft-Nokia relationship was one no marriage counselor could save. (The Verge)