Almost 17 years after its debut, Nokia (NYSE:NOK) has introduced a brightly coloured version of the classic 3310 phone, the world’s most popular device in the year 2000.
With 22 hours of talk time and up to a month of standby, the phone will potentially be a popular backup choice for smartphone users as well as those who want to be less connected.
“It’s almost like a digital detox or a holiday phone,” said HMD’s chief executive Arto Nummela.
“If you want to switch off to an extent but you still need to have a [mobile] lifeline, it’s a brilliant solution.”
This time around, the phone is in colour and has a slightly bigger screen. The phone will cost €49 when released in the second quarter of 2017. The original cost in 2000 was £129.99 on pay as you go.
HMD promises that the new handset will be as durable as the old one, often considered indestructible by the teens of the 2000s.
in 2014, Nokia sold its handset operations to Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) for $7 billion. Last year, it gave the Nokia a new start by licensing its devices to HMD Global, a new company led by ex-Nokia executives and backed by Foxconn (TPE:2354).
HMD have also announced three smartphones that run on Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Android platform: The Nokia 6 smartphone, the Nokia 5 and 3.
“The 3310 was the first mass-market mobile and there’s a massive amount of nostalgia and affection for it,” commented Ben Wood from the technology consultancy CCS Insight.
“If HMD had just announced three Android devices they would have barely got a couple of column inches in the press.
“So, the 3310 is a very clever move and we expect it will sell in significant volumes.”
Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics said: “Nokia has struggled in smartphones, but it maintains a very good reputation for delivering user-friendly feature phones at competitive prices, such as the Nokia 230 dual sim.”