HMD becomes official smartphone partner of FC Barcelona

HMD is to become FC Barcelona’s official smartphone partner. The company will support the men’s club and Barcelona Femeni, the women’s team.

The announcement also revealed that teams from other sports will be involved in the partnership, including basketball, futsal, handball and roller hockey.

Announced on the Human Mobile Devices (HMD) and FC Barcelona social channels, the partnership reveal video sees Lamine Yamal’s hairdresser, Saul Peregrina, shave the world-famous FC Barcelona crest next to the Human Mobile Devices (HMD) logo. 

Peregrina, hairdresser to the stars, recently cut Lamine Yamal’s hair and the La Masia graduate’s reaction video on TikTok has clocked up 7.5 million views. This time Human Mobile Devices (HMD) put ‘culer’ (the name given to a Barcelona fan) Iñigo in Saul’s barber seat to recreate a stunning piece of shaved art combining the two brands’ logos.  

The intricate artwork took two hours to complete. As well as launching a three-year partnership deal, HMD also announced a new edition of its latest smartphone, the HMD Skyline in Blue Topaz. Released worldwide on July 18th in Neon Pink and Twisted Black, the Blue Topaz model has a 108 MP front camera and 50 MP selfie camera. It costs just £399 for the 8/128GB version and £499 for the 12/256GB version.

As a result of the partnership, HMD will advertise its smartphones on the digital panels at the Olympic Stadium, where FC Barcelona currently plays. Once the team moves to its renovated home at Camp Nou, the ads will appear there as well. Later, the partnership will extend towards “a number of digital-first content pieces to excite fans and keep partnership visibility levels high,” read the official press release.

Commenting on the announcement of the partnership, Lars Silberbauer, Global Chief Marketing Officer at Human Mobile Devices (HMD), said:

“When it comes to creativity and innovation in sport you simply cannot look past FC Barcelona. The club has always championed fresh thinking, beauty, and flair, and we have the same mindset when it comes to technology. And just like FC Barcelona brings people together – it’s more than a club obviously – we’re the same.“Every device we make is designed to enhance people’s lives and build connectivity. I’ve been a FC Barcelona fan for a long time, ever since Michael Laudrup joined the club back in 1989. I’m still a fan, and pleased to announce HMD as a supporter too. We can’t wait to work with the club, and the culers, to do some amazing things together.”