HMD began teasing a new smartphone in India last week, and while it was expected to be a rebranded HMD Pulse, we have exclusive information that it isn’t. In fact, the HMD Arrow is set to be a completely new smartphone for the Indian market with upgraded specifications, a new design, and other differences over the HMD Pulse.
Sources familiar with the development have told The Mobile Indian that HMD Arrow isn’t a rebranded HMD Pulse smartphone that debuted globally and in the US (with model name HMD Vibe) earlier last month. “HMD Arrow will have a completely new design, more powerful specs, different processor, 5G connectivity, and camera specs.”
HMD Pulse series devices that launched in Europe are all 4G enabled and have a Unisoc T606 Chipset under the hood. Markets like Europe and the US still have a considerable amount of share of 4G smartphones likely due to which HMD wants to tap into that segment in those regions.
However, in India, 5G smartphones have been constantly getting cheaper, with 4G launches diminishing. The cheapest 5G smartphone in India costs below Rs 10,000, which is a competitive market, and those brands with 4G products in that segment are having difficulty convincing consumers to buy the 4G phones now that India has widely adopted 5G.
Consumers are having a hard time justifying their purchase of a smartphone without 5G support. As a result, HMD may want to target 5G users at the lower end of the price spectrum in India with its Arrow smartphone.
India had 159 million 5G subscribers, or a penetration of 15 per cent, as of January 2024 according to a report by Bank of America Global Research. Moreover, according to an Ookla report from earlier this March, Reliance Jio and Airtel’s 5G networks have improved video start times and reduced buffering compared to 4G LTE, clocking 5G video start times of 1.14 seconds and 1.29 seconds, respectively. In contrast, Reliance Jio’s 4G LTE video start time was 1.99 seconds and 1.73 seconds for Airtel. Mobile gamers also experienced improved median latency, with 77 ms and 92 ms for Reliance Jio and Airtel, respectively.
As for the pricing, there’s no word regarding which segment the HMD Arrow will belong to. Considering the past pricing trends from Nokia in India and HMD in global markets, the Arrow could be a mid-budget 5G handset catering to many users in the sub-Rs 20,000 price segment.