HMD closing shop in China?

HMD Global seems to have quietly ended smartphone sales in China. The company’s official JD.com flagship store has been closed and now only shows a notice that operations are suspended.

Up until recently, the store listed HMD’s latest devices like Skyline, Fusion, Pulse+, Crest 5G and Aura², but these began disappearing at the start of August. HMD has also removed links from its own Chinese pages that used to point directly to JD.com. The only phone still being actively sold under the HMD brand there is a Barbie model, which looks more like a side project than a real effort.

 

 

Interestingly, if you head to JD.com you can still find Nokia and HMD smartphones listed by other sellers, but that will probably change soon. For the official HMD store, the move looks final.

 

This step isn’t without precedent. Back in January, Nokia smartphones vanished from HMD’s JD.com store, leaving only feature phones with Nokia or HMD branding. Now that smartphones are gone too, the writing is on the wall.

While it’s possible HMD is looking for a new sales channel, it seems more likely the company has given up on China altogether. The market is notoriously difficult for outsiders, with aggressive local competition and limited access to distribution.

The decision also fits the bigger picture: in 2026, HMD’s license to sell Nokia smartphones expires. With that clock ticking, the Finnish manufacturer is already pushing its own-branded story. That story won’t include China, but rather Europe and maybe a few selected other markets where HMD has better chances.

Source: Ithome.com via Suomimobiili