The fast online sellouts for the Nokia 6 just look like 'flash sales'

A few weeks ago, HMD Global surprised the world when it announced that its debut Nokia-branded Android smartphone, the Nokia 6, would be made available first in China. The phone went on sale shortly after that reveal, with JD.com selected as the exclusive Chinese online retailer for the device. We reported that the first batch of phones sold out in just one minute, and since then it has sold out quickly for a second time on the site.

Many people assumed HMD was selling the Nokia 6 via “flash sales” online, which is a popular business method for Asian markets. As it turns out, that’s not the case. NokiaPowerUser contacted HMD and the company denied they are using flash sales to sell the phone. The simple truth, according to HMD, is that they have tried to update the inventory of the Nokia 6 on JD.com many times since the launch, but that “those were usually gone within minutes or hours” which made it look like the company was using the flash sales method.

HMD added that now that the Chinese New Year holidays are ending and everyone in the country is going back to work, they expect to have more Nokia 6 units for sale “in the coming days and weeks.” The company has yet to reveal specific sales numbers for the phone, although JD.com took over one million pre-launch reservations for the Nokia 6 at the price of 66 CNY (about $9) each. If you move fast enough to get the phone, it is priced at 1,699 CNY, or about $245, on JD.com.

HMD is expected to reveal more Nokia-branded Android devices in just a few weeks as part of the 2017 Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain. So far, there’s been no word on if any of them, including the Nokia 6, will be released in the US. We will be there to get first-hand info on what HMD has in store for the return of Nokia to smartphones.