“India is a major country for us, not only financially but also in terms of potential.” Jean Francois Baril, CEO and Chairman of HMD, the Finnish smartphone brand, is clear about his priorities after the launch of its Crest made-in-India smartphone series. “This product has been created with India's needs in mind, supported by our global platform,” he Baril tells indianexpress.com. With the Crest series, Human Mobile Devices (HMD), the company behind Nokia-branded phones, is setting its sights on India's rapidly growing mid-range smartphone segment. “We have huge expectations for India, both for its domestic market and for exports. India is now ready to export, which wasn't the case some time ago. With support from initiatives like the Production Linked Incentive (PLI), we have already started exporting a few products,” says Baril adding that HMD plans to start with India, and eventually expand to the Middle East, Africa, and likely Europe. “For future products, we're also considering America.” HMD’s vision for Indian consumers With numerous brands jostling for space, making an impact in the highly competitive mid-range smartphone segment in India is no small feat. HMD’s approach, at present, revolves around offering cost-effective products that are centred on user experience. “We need to bring super affordable products to this market. We have all the necessary specs for this segment, and they are competitive. But what's amazing about these phones (Crest) is the user experience, which is best-in-class for this segment and even adjacent segments,” Baril adds. The HMD boss seemed particularly excited about the device’s camera capabilities, build quality and sustainability features. “The camera, for instance, has a 50-megapixel wide-angle selfie camera. When you hold the phone, it feels solid and well-crafted. The Color, Material, and Finish is world-class,” he says, adding that HMD is the most sustainable company in the world by far. Another key aspect Baril emphasised was HMD's commitment to sustainability. "We are the most sustainable company in the world by far." The CEO says this commitment also extends to the company's approach to repairability, with HMD partnering with iFixit to make their devices easier for users to repair themselves. Talking about the repairability of the devices, Baril explains, “Many people go around with broken screens because it is expensive to repair. Here, you can decide (to repair it yourself)." Baril added that while earlier models were more challenging to repair, newer iterations have made the process more accessible to average users. On Unisoc chipset for Crest series The newly-launched Crest and Crest Max are powered by the Unisoc T760 5G 6nm SoC. When asked about the challenges of integrating the chipset along with Android 14, Baril acknowledges that it presented a new challenge for the team. However, he is confident in the partnership and the capabilities of the chipset. “For this category of product, it's a perfect match for what we're trying to do. These people are bringing the next step of capability for the chipset.” Adding to the conversation, Alain Lejeune, chief operating officer at HMD, says Unisoc is not a new partner for HMD and they have been working together for several years, starting with feature phones and 4G smartphones. “We have a deep technological partnership with them. This particular chipset is state-of-the-art, and through our partnership, we're able to bring something unique to the market. The user experience is extremely smooth, and we're able to offer this at a very competitive price,” he adds. Bringing back ‘dumb’ phones On issues like smartphone addiction and the dangers of extended screen time which is gradually bringing feature phones back to the fold, Baril says: “This is a major issue, especially in countries like France, the UK, and America. We are constantly approached by lobbyists asking us to protect children. We are addressing this with a different segment of products.” Some of the phones from HMD come with a ‘detox mode’ that is activated by simply pressing a button. The brand will be soon launching a project called ‘Better Phone’ to address concerns. “In India, with 750 million active smartphones, this issue is also becoming relevant. As Human Mobile Devices, we feel it's our responsibility to tackle this issue,” he says. What the consumer wants When asked about what mid-range customers are looking for in a smartphone, Baril highlights three key points: camera quality, affordability, and overall user experience. He emphasises the importance of democratising access to high-quality devices. "I want to democratise the capability for people to get access to the best phones," he said. “Consumers across all markets are becoming very savvy about what they want in terms of user experience. They're particularly aware of things like memory and processing power that affect the smoothness of use,” adds Lejeune. For the Crest series, HMD has partnered with e-commerce giant Amazon and will be available in India in the upcoming Great Freedom Sale. When asked about its partnership with Amazon and if HMD has plans for physical retail stores in the future, Baril says “while there may be some physical retail presence for customers to ‘touch and feel’ the phones, the vast majority is going to be done through Amazon".
