This is the new HMD Skyline, a mid-tier smartphone from the Finnish phone manufacturer HMD (Human Mobile Devices). The company, which also holds the licence to make Nokia phones, is on a journey to recalibrate our relationship with our phones – not just the way they’re designed for greater repairability, but also how we use them.
Lars Silberbauer, CMO of HMD and Nokia Phones, came to the tech business via stints at MTV and Lego, so he’s an atypical tech executive. HMD regained the Nokia name from Microsoft in 2016, after an ill-starred stint of Seattle-based ownership failed to set the world alight with the Windows Phone OS. The newly independent company pivoted to Android, as well as doubling down on the demand for ‘dumb phones’ in emerging markets and elevating the status of candybars and flips amongst consumers used only to smartphones.
