Nokia 8 to skip China and the US

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 835-powered Nokia 8 is the first flagship released by this iconic brand since HMD Global took over. Sadly, now we know for sure that two key markets for most smartphone makers, namely the US and China, are not supposed to get it via the official channels.

Florian Seiche, acting chief executive of HMD Global, told CNBC that "The U.S. requires a separate strategy, even a separate portfolio and tech investment so we are not in a rush today around that because we are seeing such strong demand across the globe." In China, the mid-range Nokia 6 has been available via JD.com for a while and Seiche said the handset was not received as well as the company expected.

Strangely enough, the Nokia 8 is expected to debut in India this fall. The Nokia brand is doing well in this large market and so launching the new flagship in the area makes sense. Unfortunately, nothing is official yet, but we will let you know as soon as anything new concerning the local launch of this handset surfaces.