KIANEWS 
Finnish company HMD Global has launched a new HMD Fuse smartphone aimed specifically at children. According to the company, it is the world's first smartphone that prevents children from filming, broadcasting or viewing nude and sexually explicit content, even while streaming.
HMD Global in turmoil – Design and creative directors leave, e-commerce remains closed
06. 11. 2025 Thursday / By: Robert Denes / Leakage / Exact time: BST / Print this page
The turmoil at HMD Global continues, with several key employees who played key roles in launching the HMD brand leaving the company, and the company has yet to open its own online store, which was promised for the summer.
According to multiple sources and LinkedIn profiles, Raun Forsyth, who held the title of design director at the company, and Lucia Domenici, who held the title of executive creative director, left the company in September. Both were key figures in building HMD’s own brand and design direction in the post-Nokia brand.
Forsyth has been with HMD for nearly nine years and has been responsible for the company’s phone design since its inception. Before HMD, he also worked at Nokia and Microsoft. Domencici, on the other hand, joined HMD in 2021 and leads the company’s global creative team.
The departures of Forsyth and Domenic coincide with the departures of several other marketing and creative directors from HMD. According to Luke Staunton, a user of the X service, this is, among other things, a sign of wider internal changes at the company.
However, LinkedIn reveals that long-time HMD designer Miika Mahonen has taken on a new role as lead designer for HMD Secure in June 2025. This supports the view that HMD is now focusing its resources specifically on information security and enterprise solutions.
HMD could use HMD Secure as a kind of "exit strategy" from traditional smartphones. HMD has not released many new mobile devices for the European market for a long time. Last year's HMD Fusion was one of the few that came out in several different versions throughout the year.
The closure of HMD's online store in June caused widespread surprise when, without prior warning, all products disappeared from sale on the company's own website. At the time, the company told SuomiMobiili that this was a planned change and that the new shopping experience would be launched "over the summer." Now, in November, the online store has still not been back up and running, and the company has not provided any further updates on the situation. This raises questions about whether HMD's strategic change has dragged on longer than planned, or whether there is something else behind it.
HMD's chief marketing officer, Lars Silberbauer, left the company in the spring after just two years. Since his departure, several other members of the marketing management have also left, and now the design and creative departments have also undergone significant changes. HMD has not yet commented on the personnel changes or how the changes will affect future products or the direction of the brand. While HMD has previously assured that it is "in a strong position and on the right track," the recent changes and the prolonged closure of e-commerce suggest a different reality. It is worth noting that the leaked device designs have not been unveiled for 12-14 or 16 months. Previously, leaked device designs were released after a few weeks or 1-2 months.
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