India is one of our biggest countries which has potential and also money. Through the release of their locally made smartphone series, HMD CEO and Chairman Jean Francois Baril stated what his main goals are. Baril said “This product has been created with India’s needs in mind, supported by our global platform .”
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Crest Series from Human Mobile Devices (HMD) aimed at mid-range smartphone market in India which is growing very fast.
“For us, we expect a lot both for exports as well as for selling. At least now India is ready for exporting. We started already some exportations with help of incentives like PLI (Production Linked Incentive),” says Baril adding that further discussions will be held on how to expand initially starting from India before moving to Middle East Africa and probably Europe.’’ America on the other hand is considered for next products.”
Hmd crest mobile The objective of HMD in relation to customers in India
Making an impression in such a tightly fought mid-range smartphone market like India’s means you have to go the extra mile. As things stand today, this strategy at HMD focuses more on affordable products which give user experience priority. “We need extremely low-cost items coming into this market. Our specs are competitive and they meet all criteria for this particular segment. However, these phones (Crest) deliver an exceptional user experience because they provide best-in-class performance across these categories and others,” he added.
The head of HMD seems particularly excited about sustainability features, build quality as well as photography capabilities of the device. For instance, there’s a camera-phone with wide angle selfie feature having a 50-megapixel resolution camera among others. The phone’s design feels solidly built when picked up or held in the hand. He states that HMD by far is the most environmentally friendly firm in the world, while its color, material and finish are of the highest quality.
Also important to Baril is HMD’s commitment towards sustainability. “We are the greenest corporation ever.” The CEO also acknowledged their dedication to reparability which has been shown through partnership with iFixit in enabling users repair their HMD devices.
Baril says, “Many people go around with broken screens because it is expensive to repair,” referring to the gadget’s reparability. You can choose to fix it yourself at this point. Baril continued, “Even though earlier models were more difficult to repair, newer models have made it more accessible for average users.”
Hmd crest mobile About Crest series Unisoc chipset
Crest and Crest Max smartphones run on a new Unisoc T760 5G 6nm SoC. Asked about challenges faced by his team for integrating the chipset into Android 14, Baril called it a new thing they tried out. Nevertheless, he trusts both a partnership and powers of this chipset. It fits perfectly into the kind of product we want to create. These individuals make the next level of functionality happening inside this chip set.”
Commenting further, Unisoc is not a new partner to HMD as Alain Lejeune, HMD Chief Operating Officer, reveals that they have been working together for many years starting with feature phones and 4G smartphones. In terms of technology, we are deeply involved with them. We can offer something unique to the market as a result of this association through utilizing an advanced chipset in our phones. We can also do this at a very low cost and still ensure that it has the best user experience,” he added.
Hmd crest mobile Introducing “dumb” phones again
According to Baril, there is a big problem with smartphone addiction and dangers of spending too much time looking on the screen which constantly leads back to using feature phones specifically in countries such as USA, UK and France. Lobbyists come and request us to protect kids frequently from these problems. We have taken this up separately.
This is why some HMD phones have a “detox mode” that can be activated by pressing just one button: future smartphones may require home repair kits. The company is about to launch “Better Phone” project aimed at solving this issue. India is also experiencing growing interest due to its 750 million mobile devices presently in use. This comes within Human Mobile Devices remit,” he says.
Hmd crest mobile What buyers want
When asked what features mid-range buyers look forward to when buying smartphones, Baril gives three main factors; overall user experience, affordability and camera quality. He insists on how important it is for everyone to access top quality gadgets. “I want more people having opportunities of getting the best handsets,” he stated.
“Nowadays consumers are increasingly fussy about their UX preferences across all markets.” – adds Lejeune – “They pay particular attention to memory or processor speed affecting seamlessness.”
HMD worked with Amazon – world’s largest e-commerce retailer – on Crest series targeted for Great Freedom Sale in India. When asked about HMD’s relationship with Amazon and plans for opening physical retail stores in the future, Baril claims that “most of the transactions will happen via Amazon although we might also have some physical retail presence for customers to touch and feel our products.”
