HMD, or Human Mobile Devices for short, will launch a Barbie-branded mobile phone in July.
HMD
BARCELONA — Still not tired of the movie Barbie?
You’ll soon be able to get a flip phone from the hit toy franchise.
The company behind Nokia-branded smartphones, HMD, short for Human Mobile Devices, says it will launch a Barbie mobile phone this summer, in collaboration with the toy maker Mattel.
Mattel is the company behind the Barbie doll collection. Since 1959 it has been producing and selling the famous children’s toys and accessories.
The device, expected to launch this summer, “promises to embody the vintage elegance of the original brand of female empowerment with a hint of pink and, of course, sparkle,” according to a press release from HMD.
It won’t be connected to the Internet, making it a throwback to the “dumb phones” of the past, before smartphones became popular.
So-called dumb phones have become more popular, especially among Generation Z consumers, who are looking to limit their digital activity and distance themselves from toxic content found on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube.
Lars Silberbauer, marketing director at HMD, said it’s “time to trade real life for real life and take a break from all the notification interruptions.”
The device looks like a regular flip phone with buttons rather than a touch screen and comes in a bright pink color, reminiscent of the iconic pink flip phone accessory that comes with many Barbie dolls.
It’s the first device sold by HMD under its new brand, Human Mobile Devices, or HMD for short. This is a step up from Nokia, the brand HMD has typically used to sell its dumb phones and smartphones.
Under renovation, HMD plans to continue selling Nokia phones. But it will partner with other brands to sell phones that represent only their brand, rather than HMD, with the company acting as a sort of white-label hardware maker behind the scenes.
HMD has been spun off Microsoft after the US tech giant decided to sell the Nokia phone brand, first purchased in 2014, to a group of former Nokia executives. HMD Global was founded in 2016.
Barbie Mania became a phenomenon in 2023 thanks to a hit film starring the likes of Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Will Ferrell. The film grossed over $1.4 billion at the box office, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2023.