By Chris Skeldon 
The 2000s are back, and so are brick cell phones. European company HMD Global, the licensed reseller of Nokia devices, has relaunched the Nokia 3210 phone 25 years after the product was first introduced to the market.
HMD is trying to ride the wave of disillusionment with smartphones and social networks to sell “dumb phones” – dumb phones, literally, without operating systems as complex as current models. The company focuses on devices with long useful life, easy maintenance, and durable battery life.
Last year, the brand doubled sales of another nostalgic cell phone, the Nokia 2660 Flip, compared to 2023, and expects even greater growth in the market for these types of devices in 2024, according to promotional materials.
However, sales of these devices declined in Brazil, with a 19.3% drop in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to IDC Brasil. Data from Statista show a similar situation in Europe. The main markets for “smartphones” are Germany, the United Kingdom, China and Brazil.
In the brand's favor is the growing nostalgic appeal of the 2000s driven by social media. On Instagram, the hashtag Y2K, an acronym that stands for 2000s, has more than 7.3 million posts. On TikTok, the hashtag appears in 2.2 million videos; Some feature users using another popular device from the 2000s, the foldable cell phone.
Inspired by a modern look, the Nokia 3210 will come in Blue, Grunge Black, and Y2K Gold. Also bring a toy snake, toy snake, and flashlight.
For Lars Silberbauer, HMD's chief marketing officer, the launch makes sense at a time when “consumers are looking to balance screen time with a digital detox.” “Let's go back to the year 2000, when conversations were more important than likes and shares,” the brand's ad says.
A cell phone battery can last up to a week
Despite keeping with the tradition, the device also comes with some new tools: 4G connectivity, Bluetooth, 2-megapixel camera, WhatsApp, Google Maps, and YouTube Shorts.
The company also highlights in the advertisement the long battery life of the device, which is known for its duration of up to a week. There are 1460 mAh, which is less than half the capacity of current mobile phone batteries, but the consumption of “smart phones” is lower due to the simplicity of the system.
The device is available in some European countries, such as the United Kingdom, for £ 74.99 (about R $ 486), and in Germany and France for € 79.99 (about R $ 445). There is no possibility to purchase the Nokia 3210 phone on the company's website here in Brazil, but devices purchased in Europe work in this country.
Nokia stopped producing mobile phones in 2016, since Microsoft sold it to the Taiwanese semiconductor company Foxconn, and since then it has maintained a focus on the communications infrastructure sector, with the installation of antennas and networks.
In the same year, HMD bought the right to resell devices from the Finnish brand, which dominated the market in the early 2000s, and the licensed reseller arrived in Brazil in 2020.
In the country, the Nokia 110 4G, Nokia 2660 Flip and Nokia 105 “dumbphones” are available, with prices ranging from R$115 to R$400.