It looks like there will be no Nokia flagship this year

Call it the curse of the pandemic or plain old mismanagement, but it looks like the Nokia 9.3 PureView, or whatever the company’s next flagship is called, will not make it to market this year.

According to tipster Nokia Anew, the successor to the Nokia 9 PureView has been delayed until next year, specifically the first half of 2021. The exact date or month of launch is still unknown, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it’s pushed even further or if HMD Global decides to skip the Snapdragon 865 flagship altogether.

As per previous rumors, the so-called Nokia 9.3 PureView has been delayed several times this past year. A report in September pegged the launch of the phone for November this year. That clearly hasn’t happened and there are no official teasers or announcements from HMD Global to suggest the phone will launch anytime soon. For what it’s worth, we asked HMD earlier this month whether it plans to launch a flagship phone before the end of 2020, but it refused to comment.

It’s not surprising that HMD Global’s flagship launch plans seem to be up in the air. The company had the same problem with the Nokia 8.3 5G, which only made it to store shelves six months after it was first announced in March this year.

That said, the long gaps between flagship Nokia phones are definitely confusing and make us wonder what the company is thinking. It has been well over a year since the penta-camera Nokia 9 flagship launched, that too with an older chipset. HMD Global really needs to get its act together if it wants to stay competitive and relevant in the smartphone industry.

For now, it seems the company is more focused on bringing back nostalgic retro phones than making Android devices that matter.

Also read: The best Android phones you can buy right now