Nokia launches the all-new 3310

Photo: Screenshot from The Verge’s Youtube video

Nostalgia hits the market as the iconic Nokia 3310 was relaunched Sunday in the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

HMD Global, a Finnish start-up company who acquired the rights to Nokia from Microsoft announced the comeback of the phone that started it all; this time with features fitting to the convenience of the modern-day consumer. At the event, they also announced the release of three Nokia Android smartphones.

The new 3310 boasts a bigger screen with a colored display equipped with 3g to accommodate internet browsing, a back camera, a built-in radio and is charged via microUSB. It also boasts an average talk time of 22 hours and standby time of one month which was twice the standby time capacity of the original.

It also includes the classic game Snake which was also upgraded.

HMD assures that the durability of the new 3310 will be as good as the old one as it was known for its durability during its popularity in the 2000s.The phone even gained a cult following and became Finland’s emoji for “indestructible”.

It will be priced for P3,000 or $75.

According to CCS Insight’s Ben Wood, “There is a segment of the population that just wants a basic phone. From the stereotype of builder that just wants to call and text and if it gets broken it doesn’t matter, to the festival phone and the backup phone.”

Launched in 2000, the original Nokia 3310 sold nearly 120 million units worldwide, making it one of world’s best selling mobile phones. It was discontinued in 2005 due to the popularity of another Nokia model: the Nokia 1100.

Nokia was the top mobile phone maker from 1998 to 2011 until it was overtaken by Samsung after not being able to compete with the rise of the smartphone. This led the company to sell its handset line to Microsoft.

Analysts say that this market venture made by HMD would put Nokia back on the map as a top competitor given that Nokia has been always known for its quality and durability.
“If someone walks into a shop and they want a mid-tier phone, do they buy a Huawei, or a OnePlus, a Xiaomi or a Vivo or Wileyfox or something else they’ve never heard of, or  do they buy the Nokia, the brand they know?” Wood said.