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Could we see a return of Nokia's budget-friendly Asha devices?
- HMD Global filed an application to gain control of the Asha name.
- Nokia’s Asha devices were a bridge between smartphones and feature phones.
- The company stopped making devices under the Asha name in 2014.
If you’re old like me, you may remember Nokia’s not-quite-but-kind-of smartphone, the Asha. The budget line had touchscreens and could access Facebook and Twitter, but weren’t really smartphones. The phones were discontinued in 2014, but now could be making a return.
LoveNokia.net caught a trademark application passing through the EU Intellectual Property Office with the Asha name. HMD Global filed the application to transfer the name to its portfolio. Now that it makes Nokia devices, it makes sense to protect the Asha name. Per the EUIPO, the name can be used for a computer software platform used in mobile telephones and smartphones. It can also be used for wireless communications services, namely computer software in mobile telephones and smartphones.
The filing really doesn’t do much more than let HMD use the name. HMD is currently working to bring the very budget-friendly Nokia 1 to market right now, but maybe in the future we’ll see budget devices use the Asha branding too.