Thursday 31 July 2014

Jolla phone news: Operator three, Hong Kong, China

Official Jolla launch at Hong Kong, China in cooperation with operator 3HK


Sales of Jolla handset are expected to be launched shortly in Hong Kong in cooperation with local operator 3HK. The boxes are already being packed (click on image to enlarge)

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Strong expanding


The first Jolla phone was sold in Helsinki, Finland at November 27, 2013. Since then Jolla phones have been delivered to EU, Switzerland and Norway, but the latest news show some fast expanding to bigger markets: 



And now, July 31, 2014 we know that Jolla is available soon in Hong Kong, China. Operator Three has more than 20 million customers there and they have exclusive sales on Jolla smartphones

Phones are being packed...

Image was shared July 29, 2014 by Antti Saarnio, chairman at Jolla, is showing black boxes packed up with The Other Half back covers and these boxes then packed up into a 3HK bag.

...and delivered


The final product being packed is a VIP box for exclusive sales via 3HK. "Jollasmartphone sales will begin in collaboration with Hong Kong 3 12th day of August," says Juhani Lassila, Head of Communications at Jolla

The first packs are delivered in an event "Experience Night" organized by Jolla and operator three


Hutchison Telecom


According to Blue Wings magazine, who recently interviewed Jolla's CEO Sami Pienimäki, Jolla might be partnering up with Hutchison Telecom owned by a worldwide telecommunication company Hutchison Whampoa. Their Hutchison Asia Telecommunications has mobile operations in Indonesia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka, and their 3 Group Europe operates businesses in Italy, the UK, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Ireland.

If Jolla is partnering up with Hutchison's company in Hong Kong, it's quite possible that they'll cooperate with partners owned by the same company while expanding to other countries. This was actually speculated already on October 2013 when Antti Saarnio, Jolla's Chairman said [translated from Finnish]: "We're not commenting this further yet. The news is not false, but it's still too early" in an interview to Taloussanomat. But the latest word from Jolla comes from Marc Dillon, Co-Founder and Head of Software in an interview to Iltalehti: "Big News" coming. [read the whole translation]

The article in Iltalehti suspected that "The Big News" about the launch to China, but I'm expecting that we are going to hear more than that soon. Or what do you think about this Pienimäki's statement to Blue Wings: “Scandinavian design is recognised for its quality, but Asians prefer a richer user experience. They like more candy and bling.”

Future expanding to even more markets


For next we're looking forward for news about Jolla availability in Russia. Review Jolla Blog readers are also following the global distribution of Jolla phones with this interactive map and list of retailers.

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Sources: Blue Wings, Iltalehti, Taloussanomat, Jolla
Published: July 31, 2014 06:20 UTC
Updated: August 1, 2014 09:54 UTC