I don't think there are any particularly reputable brands of featurephones anymore. Nokia/HMD certainly isn't one: they have obnoxious bugs, they drop calls, and lack basic modern-day compatibility features like emoji in text messages (they display only an "unknown character" box) and group MMS.
However, it does not necessarily mean there is demand for a quality featurephone: it might be that the demand is so low that it does not make sense to manufacture one.
However, it does not necessarily mean there is demand for a quality featurephone: it might be that the demand is so low that it does not make sense to manufacture one.