After HMD, Flipkart has become another licensee of the Nokia brand, though, in the case of Flipkart it is for smart TVs targeted at the Indian market. Yes, you heard it right, Flipkart is planning to launch Nokia-branded smart TVs in India.
As one can understand, Flipkart is the entity that will manufacture and market the Nokia smart TVs and Nokia will get the royalty from Flipkart for using its brand name.
Flipkart made this announcement in a press release sent to media,
“Working with Nokia allows us to further expand the choice of high-quality, technologically advanced products for Indian consumers. Nokia is a globally popular technology brand and enjoys immense brand recall, so we’re excited to start this journey with them to extend the brand into a fast-growing product segment. We are committed, as always, to bringing best of brands and technology together as we work towards welcoming the next 200 million consumers on our platform,” Adarsh Menon, who is Senior Vice President and Head – Private Brands, Electronics and Furniture at Flipkart said in a statement.
These Nokia smart TVs willl be made in India and feature “superior audio quality powered by JBL’s sound program”, as per the information shared by Flipkart.
Nokia marked this as the foray of Nokia brand in a new category.
“Today marks the start of an exciting new chapter for the Nokia brand in a new category. And where better to start than in India, where our brand has been trusted for quality, design and reliability. Flipkart’s understanding of the needs and behaviors of Indian consumers, and the power of its reach, will help it make Nokia branded smart TVs accessible and affordable to many,” Vipul Mehrotra, Vice President, Nokia Brand Partnerships said.
So, seems unlike HMD that has mainly ex-Nokians in its management team, Flipkart will have complete control over how it manufactures and delivers the Nokia smart TVs.
Trivia:
Nokia indeed manufactured and sold Widescreen TVs in the mid-90s.
