Nokia Smart TVs, coming to India

Brace yourselves, the Nokia name is branching out into the world of televisions

Looks like we will be seeing a lot more of the Nokia brand name outside the world of smartphones. According to a press release by Flipkart, one of India’s leading e-commerce marketplaces, Nokia televisions will soon be made available to purchase by the Indian public. The company has reached a licensing deal with Nokia, to use the latter’s namesake on its line of TVs.

Unlike several other nations, the Nokia brand name is still very popular in India. It’s feature phones and smartphones still command a substantial following. Extending this appeal to the TV market might be a savvy business idea. Flipkart says that demand for consumer goods will surge in the next five years and is hoping to get in on the action.

The Nokia branded smart TVs will have JBL’s sound program to help produce decent audio quality speakers. JBL, a subsidiary of HARMAN, is a world-renowned specialist in producing high-quality sound systems ranging from portable Bluetooth speakers and headphones, to surround-sound audio systems.

Flipkart says that a major factor in the indian consumer’s buying decision is sound quality. They are far more likely to pick up a TV that offers decent sound quality than one that offers something mediocre. And with JBL on-board, this mashup that includes Nokia, might give Flipkart’s TV line the brand recognition it needs to stand out from the rest.

In case you didn’t know, this isn’t the first time that the Nokia brand name has been licensed to another entity that has no connection to the telecommunications giant. There is a similar arrangement in place for Nokia smartphones. As confusing as this may seem, the smartphone division of Nokia, isn’t actually run by Nokia.

HMD Global, which is also a Finnish company, licensed the Nokia name from Microsoft in 2016 for use with its own line of smartphones. But, unlike Flipkart, HMD Global, is the reminiscence of what once was the mighty Nokia phone empire. Microsoft purchased Nokia’s phone division in 2014 but went on to sell it to HMD Global in 2016.

The company consists of former Nokia employees and is allowed the rights to the Nokia brand for smartphones and tablets till 2024. It’s an extremely confusing arrangement but its one that allows the Nokia brand name to continue to flourish.