Technology companies like Huawei Technologies Co and Samsung Electronics Co think the way to take on a stagnating smartphone market is to build devices that fold in half.<\/p>\n
Nokia has a different idea – make a phone with five cameras on the back.<\/p>\n
HMD Global Oy, which produces consumer products under the Nokia name, showed off the Nokia 9 PureView at MWC Barcelona on Sunday. It doesn\u2019t bend in half, and it doesn\u2019t have next-generation 5G mobile connectivity, but HMD chief executive officer Florian Seiche said there\u2019s a big market still for this kind of phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s targeted at enthusiast photographers,\u201d Seiche said in an interview on the sidelines of the tech conference, and added that it would promote the phone across Europe, the US and China.<\/p>\n
Premium device makers have been trying to develop ways to excite consumers into upgrading their phones more frequently, but high prices, minimal aesthetic differentiation between models, as well as strong competition from Chinese manufacturers, have made this difficult over the past year.<\/p>\n
Seiche wouldn\u2019t say whether the company was preparing a model with 5G connectivity, as seen on devices announced recently by Samsung, and Xiaomi Corp, but said HMD was collaborating with Qualcomm Inc. on 5G technologies.<\/p>\n
The Nokia 9 runs on Alphabet Inc-owned Google\u2019s Android software and uses a Qualcomm-made processor. But crucially in a market of expensive high-end devices, it costs about $699.<\/p>\n
Seiche said expanding Nokia\u2019s presence in the US this year was \u201ca very big focus area.\u201d He said the partnerships with Verizon and Cricket Wireless was \u201ca great start,\u201d but wanted to also invest more in high-street retail and e-commerce to boost sales.<\/p>\n