HMD Global, licensee of Nokia-brand smartphones, said it is developing capabilities and processes this year to bring 5G device production to Europe.
Major smartphone suppliers such as Apple and Samsung do not have manufacturing facilities in Europe. They make their phones in Asia to cut costs.
Finland-based HMD Global said in a news release it was working with IT security partners on software modifications and thorough testing as the first stages of manufacturing and testing smartphones in Europe.
The company did not disclose where in Europe it plans to setup its factory. HMD Global also did not reveal its investment for starting manufacturing unit for making Nokia smartphones in Europe.
The European Union has been encouraging companies to set up production in key sectors, introducing laws and offering subsidies as the bloc did for semiconductors with the European Chips Act.
“While we can’t discuss European subsidies, we collaborate with multiple parties in both the public and private sector in Europe to advocate for European manufacturing and R&D,” HMD chief marketing officer Lars Silberbauer told Reuters.
HMD in 2016 signed a 10-year licensing agreement with Nokia, once the world’s largest phone maker, to make Nokia-branded smartphones and tablets.
In 2014, Nokia sold its entire handset business to software major Microsoft. Finland-based Nokia focuses on telecoms network equipment.
HMD used Nokia’s remaining phone patents and manufacturing facilities of Taiwan-based Foxconn to build a new line of smartphones to compete with other budget Android phone makers.
The company also unveiled three smartphones on Saturday – the Nokia G22, Nokia C32 and Nokia C22 – with three-day battery life and said it would begin repairing mobiles in collaboration with repair firm iFixit.
