The Nokia 6 Android smartphone proved to be a hit and it sold out in no time, but it's not following a flash sale model.
HMD Global, Nokia's new parent company, is just having trouble keeping up with demand for the Nokia 6. That said, the fact that the Nokia 6 went on sale several times and sold out within minutes is not because HMD adopted the flash sale business model that others follow, but because it's facing overwhelming demand and can't keep the Nokia 6 in stock long enough.
The Elusive Nokia 6
It remains unclear for now just how many Nokia 6 units HMD Global had in stock since the phone's launch in China, as the company has yet to offer any details in this regard. The fact that demand is higher than supply could mean that the Nokia 6 is incredibly popular, but also that HMD had insufficient stock to begin with.
Nevertheless, HMD confirmed to Nokia Power User (NPU) that it's not following a flash sale model like OnePlus and other OEMs do. The Nokia 6 is available exclusively in China via retailer JD.com and already went on sale a number of times, with more to come.
The Nokia 6 went out of stock extremely fast each time it went on sale because JD didn't have enough units in stock to keep up with demand, but HMD hopes that it will be able to ramp up production for the smartphone once the Chinese New Year is over.
"Actually we have been updating the inventory on JD.com more than [three] times but those were usually gone within minutes or hours, so that's why you have the impression that we were doing flash sales," HMD tells NPU. "We will keep supply to JD for sure and now the Chinese New Year holiday is mostly over and everybody's back for work, you can expect more supplies in the coming days and weeks."
Nokia 6 Specs
As a reminder, the Nokia 6 comes with a 5.5-inch dull HD display (1080p), a 64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor, Adreno 505 graphics, 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of native storage space.
Other specs include a 16-megapixel rear camera, an 8-megapixel front shooter, a fingerprint scanner below the display, dual SIM support, stereo speakers, and a 3,000 mAH battery. The Nokia 6 ships with Android 7.0 Nougat on board out of the box.
Nokia fans have long been requesting an Android smartphone that would retain the ruggedness and durability Nokia is known for, and the Nokia 6 offers just that. At the same time, the smartphone also made waves thanks to its affordable price tag, as it went on sale in China at 1,699 yuan (roughly $248). The processor is not that powerful, but the rest of the Nokia 6 specs make it quite appealing at that price point.
HMD makes no mention of when the Nokia 6 will go back in stock and whether it will be able to keep up with demand in the future, but it's working on it. Unfortunately, the smartphone might never make it to the United States or other markets outside of China.
