close
close

first Drop

Com TW NOw News 2024

Barbie Phone Launch: Price, Specs, Availability
news

Barbie Phone Launch: Price, Specs, Availability

The HMD Barbie phone is a co-branded product with Mattel, the toy giant behind the franchise.

HMD

HMD, the company behind Nokia-brand phones, launched a Barbie-branded phone on Wednesday that comes with calls, texting and a classic “flip” design — but no internet or social media apps.

The HMD Barbie Phone is a bright pink, flip-open device that features a bold “Barbie” logo on the back, a reference to the iconic fashion doll collection.

It is the result of a partnership with Mattelthe toy giant behind the Barbie franchise, which has been producing and selling Barbie toys and accessories since 1959.

The phone goes on sale in the UK from Wednesday, priced at £99 ($130.74). A US launch is planned “soon”, HMD said, adding that it would reveal exact details of the US launch on social media.

Unlike today’s internet-connected smartphones, which are most commonly used as mobile devices, HMD’s Barbie phone is not connected to the internet.

The company wants to respond to an emerging trend in recent years, where especially consumers from Generation Z opt for so-called dumb phones. These phones have no internet and only offer basic functions for texting, calling and a camera.

The concept of a “digital detox” has become more popular in recent years as consumers look to limit the damaging effects of social media on their daily lives.

“In our fast-paced, digital world, it often seems like the online buzz never ends,” Lars Silberbauer, HMD’s Chief Marketing Officer, said in a statement on Wednesday.

“This phone encourages you to put your smartphone away for those moments when you just want to surf less and have more fun, all with the help of a true cultural icon: Barbie.”

The Barbie phone comes equipped with a 0.3-megapixel camera, along with a flash for taking “Y2K-style” photos, HMD said. When taking a photo, users can add a Barbie camera frame to encircle their photos.

The device also comes with a bright pink Barbie case, as well as two interchangeable backs, including one with colorful swirls and another with a shooting heart design. It also comes with Barbie-themed stickers and a pastel beaded strap for the phone.

HMD and Mattel hope to capitalize on the hype that arose last year around the Barbie franchise, following the 2023 film ‘Barbie’.

The blockbuster, starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Will Ferrell, grossed $1.4 billion at the box office, making it the highest-grossing film of 2023.

Some might feel that the phone’s launch comes a little too late, after the film’s release in July last year.

Despite the phone’s launch coming more than a year after the film’s release, research firm CCS Insight is predicting promising sales for the device. The company estimates that HMD will sell 400,000 units of its Barbie phone in the UK this year.

“The Barbie phone taps into the current trend of digital detox with a fun design that can appeal to a wide audience,” Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, said in an emailed comment.

“I can imagine that many people will buy it as a nice extra, but in reality everyone is so dependent on their smartphone that it is difficult to keep it up for longer than a day of detoxing.”

Since 2016, HMD has held the rights to sell Nokia-branded mobile products, after it signed an agreement with Foxconn Technology, a supplier to the electronics industry, in 2016 to acquire Microsoft’s Nokia mobile brand.

The company, then known as HMD Global, changed its name to Human Mobile Devices earlier this year. Nokia earns royalty payments on sales of HMD-branded devices.