Hot discussion among netizens: full of memories, sold out many times! Sold out at 379 yuan

As the first mobile phone brand in the lives of many consumers, Nokia seems to have been away from the mainstream mobile phone market for a long time. Because its models are sturdy and durable, it was once nicknamed the "walnut-cracking artifact."

However, when the Nokia 3210 replica was launched on the market again, consumers were still "really attracted to it". It has been put on the shelves four times since May and was quickly sold out every time.

As a mobile phone brand "born" in the 1990s, can Nokia regain its home ground in the era of smartphones?

Nokia 3210 is a model launched in 1999. It was once called the "King of Mobile Phones" due to its high sales volume of 160 million units.

Fashion has come back, and 25 years later, Nokia's improved 3210 is still as good as ever. On May 8, Nokia officially released its latest replica model, the Nokia 32104G, priced at 379 yuan. It still has a straight body, retro button functions, and a built-in Snake game, full of memories.

According to the official Weibo account of Nokia Mobile Phones, the product was sold out within two days of going on sale. The sudden increase in sales excited Nokia's official Weibo account, which immediately issued a restocking notice. At 8 pm on May 31, Nokia 3210 went on sale again, and it was sold out in less than two hours. At 10 am on June 6, a small amount of Nokia stock was put on sale again, and it was quickly sold out again. At 10 am on the 12th, Nokia 32104G was restocked for the fourth time. According to official sources, the small amount of stock was quickly sold out again.

The reporter found that during the period when the flagship store was out of stock, the prices of some online stores that sold spot products rose sharply. On Taobao, the original price of a new machine was 379 yuan, but the highest price rose to 699 yuan; on Xianyu, the same model was more than 400 yuan.

So, what are the changes between the replica and the original? In terms of appearance, the Nokia 32104G is thinner and lighter, with three colors: black, blue and gold. The phone supports mobile payment functions, such as Alipay; it also retains the classic Snake game; the screen is a 2.4-inch IPS large screen, and the built-in 1450mAh large-capacity battery ensures long-lasting battery life; and the modern Type-C interface makes charging and data transmission more convenient; it is also equipped with a 2-megapixel rear camera and flash. Many consumers are attracted by its camera function, saying that it has a "CCD-like" picture quality. In terms of performance, the Nokia 32104G has 128MB of storage space, which can be expanded to up to 32GB via a microSD card.

However, from the perspective of the current communication environment, this phone seems quite "limited". It does not support WeChat, and QR code payment requires logging in with a smartphone first; it can access the Internet, but the URL link must be entered manually; it has Himalaya and Migu Music built-in, but you can only listen to songs and cannot comment or socialize; it supports 4G dual SIM dual standby, but cannot connect to WiFi.

Nokia also recognizes the shortcomings of this phone in terms of configuration, so it positions it as the first choice for "backup phone group" and "student group" on the details page. Despite this, young people are still enthusiastic about this Nokia 32104G. On June 11, in Nokia's official Douyin live broadcast room, the reporter saw that many netizens were also asking about the 3210 phone.

"Isn't it nice to spend more than 300 yuan to buy a 'CCD' that can make phone calls?"

On many social media platforms, consumers said that Nokia 3210 is a perfect CCD replica, and the texture of its photos is very similar to the skin-smoothing atmosphere brought by CCD cameras. The price of a CCD camera is much higher than that of a mobile phone. In comparison, Nokia is already very cost-effective.

CCD is also a sentimental product that has returned in recent years. The texture of the film is similar to the style of the millennium. Compared with the high-definition lens of the current SLR camera, the CCD style has a hazy and rough grain, slightly dark and rich colors, and a retro filter with an atmosphere. The reason why Nokia 3210 is called a CCD substitute is that its pixels are not high, but it has a "retro feel".

The reporter noticed that Nokia also constantly emphasized elements such as sentiment and retro in its advertisements. The text on its promotional poster mentioned, "Now, the millennium is back, and the new Nokia 3210 brings back the memories of Y2K."

Can the nostalgia and memories brought by the replica help Nokia carve out a place for itself in the era of smart phones?

In fact, this is not the first time Nokia has reproduced a classic model. In 2017, Nokia released a replica of the 3310, claiming that it sold more than 10 million units in two years. Later, the Nokia 105 series was released, which once became the sales champion. In 2022, Nokia once revealed on its official Weibo that the global sales of its 105 series exceeded 200 million units.

Zhang Shule, an industry commentator, said, "The re-enactment of Nokia's model can help to re-attract attention and promote the brand, but it is impossible to achieve a turnaround at a time when smartphone competition is entering a deep water zone."

"When I bought a mobile phone before, I wanted more functions, but now I think it's better to have a simple one." Consumer Xiao Li said that he changes his mobile phone almost every year. He used to pay attention to every move of the smart phone, but now he feels that the mobile phone has too many functions and it takes up his time. For this reason, he bought an old mobile phone worth 100 yuan, which can only make calls and send text messages.

In the era of feature phones, Nokia was the undisputed king, maintaining the top market share for 15 consecutive years starting from 1996.

However, in the process of intelligence, Nokia, which fell behind, gradually withdrew from the mainstream market. But it did not really disappear. In 2014, Nokia sold its mobile phone business that once dominated the market and focused on its network equipment business and extensive patent portfolio. In 2016, Nokia granted the exclusive global use rights of mobile phones and tablets to HMD Global, a new company founded by former Nokia executives. Since then, HMD has paid Nokia a licensing fee for every Nokia-branded mobile phone sold.

According to Nokia's official website, Nokia currently has about 20,000 patent families, covering a series of technologies such as high-pixel large bottom, super sampling technology, optical image stabilization, and even the indispensable camera function in smartphones. The huge patent group has enabled a company that was once the king of feature phones to make money easily in the smartphone era.

According to Nokia's 2023 financial report, Nokia's annual operating profit was 1.688 billion euros, a year-on-year decrease of 27%. Among them, the operating profit of the Technology Business Group was 734 million euros, accounting for 43.4% of the total operating profit.