Finland-based HMD Global, the maker of Nokia phones, says it is planning a comeback after its crushing fall from the top by pushing use of a "pure Android" operating system (OS).
The strategy is aimed at raising its market share to 15% by 2024, up from 1%, said Tanadet Chuangkeavisedd, marketing lead of HMD Global Thailand.
Nokia had around a 50% market share of mobile phones globally in 2007 when Apple introduced its first iPhone, but since the company has failed to adapt to the smartphone market and shrunk considerably.
In 2018, Nokia made up 1% of the smartphone market in Thailand.
The company seeks to benefit from the increasing uncertainty about Chinese phone brands from the Sino-US trade war.
Mr Tanadet said the company plans to increase its marketing budget this year.
Nokia phones have been sold by HMD Global in the Thai market since 2017, and the company holds a 10-year exclusive licence for the Nokia brand for phones and tablets in the global market.
He said HMD Global has launched 15 models of Nokia smartphones in Thailand since 2017, almost eight per year, and received a good response from consumers according to a survey on Net Promoter Score (NPS) by HMD last year.
The survey found 60-70% of Thai smartphone users felt positively about Nokia phones.
NPS is a management tool that can be used to gauge the loyalty of a firm's customer relationships.
NPS serves as an alternative to traditional customer satisfaction research and claims to be correlated with revenue growth.
Tanadet Chuangkeavisedd, head of marketing Thailand, HMD Global *No photo credit
"Our strategy for Nokia phones is to deliver smartphones that significantly compete on software specs rather than the pricing and hardware specs our rivals are focusing on," said Mr Tanadet.
He said one of the strongest selling points of Nokia under HMD is pure Android, especially Android One, the latest version of the Android OS, to which most Nokia models are upgraded.
Pure Android is the most basic and unmodified version of the OS designed and developed by Google.
The biggest advantage of pure Android is fast updates.
Smartphones running it are among the first to get upgraded to the latest version of the OS, while owners of other smartphones typically have to wait longer for an update because manufacturers have to modify a lot of software before they can release it.
When compared with bigger rivals, Mr Tanadet said some vendors provide pure Android on flagship models, such as Huawei with its Mate and P series. Nokia offers it for its full range of models.
"We believe in providing a better consumer experience by providing up-to-date software, so people do not have to change their phones too often," he said.
Mr Tanadet said Thai consumers replace their smartphones on average every 6-8 months, though a survey last year found the global average for replacement rates of smartphones was 18-22 months. In 2018, the replacement rate of the global market exceeded the average rate in 2017.
"I think smartphone users in the country should use their phones a bit longer before buying new ones because there are no new innovative features in the current [replacement] period," he said.
Mr Tanadet said HMD Thailand sells Nokia phones in local markets via offline channels, which makes up 90% of sales, while 10% is contributed from online channels like Shopee and Lazada.
The company partners with the three major mobile operators to distribute Nokia phones.
HMD Global operates in 80 markets and has three major offices globally -- corporate in Finland, a design office in England and a sales office in India.