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Nokia sold 4.4 million Lumia smartphones in 'solid' Q4 2012

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Re: Nokia sold 4.4 million Lumia smartphones in 'solid' Q4 2012

#11

Post by glass- »

lawdawg wrote: post #4

Last I read, Nokia accounts for 75% of all WP device sales, which means we can estimate around 6 million WP devices were shipped (not sold) during Q4 2012. Unlike Apple (which also calls shipments "sales" in their quarterly report), Nokia devices aren't in incredibly high demand (other than perhaps the 920). I can't really see how this is good news for WP when Android and iOS activated 17.1 million devices on Christm…

The vast majority of those Lumias will be the high-end 920 and the slightly-less-high-end 820. Whereas those Android activations include everything and the kitchen sink.

The Lumia 820, which is a lower-end and lower-priced WP8 phone, should be coming out this quarter, and is being mainly targeted at countries like India.

Re: Nokia sold 4.4 million Lumia smartphones in 'solid' Q4 2012

#12

Post by dagw »

adandy wrote: post #7

Out of left field for sure. I waited in line on launch day to buy my 920... all by myself for 5 whole minutes. Didn't even get a high five from the staff :(

I went looking for one a a couple of days after launch here in Sweden just to have a look, and only found one store that had even bothered stocking them.

Re: Nokia sold 4.4 million Lumia smartphones in 'solid' Q4 2012

#13

Post by jkat »

breckinloggins wrote: post #2

I've played with the Lumia at Best Buy a few times. It's a solid, attractive phone and I wouldn't be ashamed to carry one at all. I'm an iOS guy but as far as Windows Phone goes, I have to say it doesn't suck. I'm not saying that Microsoft's phone and tablet businesses will become a resounding success in spite of all current evidence, but I will say it would be a mistake to dismiss them.

I've never even seen a windows phone (maybe they aren't popular in Asia?)...I remember when they first came out, most reviews seemed to agree it was very superficial and in need of a lot of polish. Has to story changed?

Re: Nokia sold 4.4 million Lumia smartphones in 'solid' Q4 2012

#14

Post by lawdawg »

glass- wrote: post #11
lawdawg wrote: post #4

Last I read, Nokia accounts for 75% of all WP device sales, which means we can estimate around 6 million WP devices were shipped (not sold) during Q4 2012. Unlike Apple (which also calls shipments "sales" in their quarterly report), Nokia devices aren't in incredibly high demand (other than perhaps the 920). I can't really see how this is good news for WP when Android and iOS activated 17.1 million devices on Christm…

The vast majority of those Lumias will be the high-end 920 and the slightly-less-high-end 820. Whereas those Android activations include everything and the kitchen sink. The Lumia 820, which is a lower-end and lower-priced WP8 phone, should be coming out this quarter, and is being mainly targeted at countries like India.

> The vast majority of those Lumias will be the high-end 920 and the slightly-less-high-end 820.

Where did you get the breakdown by device? This is the best I've seen and doesn't seem to reflect your sentiment at all: http://www.neowin.net/images/uploaded/winphone-usage-dec.jpg

> Whereas those Android activations include everything and the kitchen sink.

OK, and? Nokia sells devices in exactly the same price ranges as Android. iPhone and GS3 sales absolutely crush Nokia on their own as well, so not sure what your point was exactly.

Re: Nokia sold 4.4 million Lumia smartphones in 'solid' Q4 2012

#15

Post by mattmaroon »

breckinloggins wrote: post #2

I've played with the Lumia at Best Buy a few times. It's a solid, attractive phone and I wouldn't be ashamed to carry one at all. I'm an iOS guy but as far as Windows Phone goes, I have to say it doesn't suck. I'm not saying that Microsoft's phone and tablet businesses will become a resounding success in spite of all current evidence, but I will say it would be a mistake to dismiss them.

I'll give them credit. If you would have told me before Windows Phone launched that I'd be frequently reading iOS users saying it doesn't suck, I wouldn't have believed you. I feel like at this stage of the game that's a win. I'm still probably not switching though.

Re: Nokia sold 4.4 million Lumia smartphones in 'solid' Q4 2012

#16

Post by glass- »

mtgx wrote: post #6

I don't know why manufacturers aren't using machined polycarbonate more the way Nokia and HTC do. It seems LG and Sony are just now trying to be where Apple was 2 years ago with the glass-back phones, which I think was a very poor material to use and a mistake on Apple's part. I think they quickly realized that, but it took them a while to create an aluminum iPhone the right way, because as we know aluminum is not gr…

Samsung is the only manufacturer that is making money from Android, and Samsung doesn't advertise that they use Android anywhere in their marketing. Most Samsung phones don't even show an Android logo when you turn them on.

Consumers don't know about or care about Android. "Normal" people do not go into a store looking for an Android.

If Nokia had gone with Android, they would be in the exact same position they are now, except they wouldn't have Microsoft's $5bn cheque keeping them afloat.

Personally I am glad they went with WP. I can't stand Android and so I am very happy there is another option.

Re: Nokia sold 4.4 million Lumia smartphones in 'solid' Q4 2012

#17

Post by jmodp »

mtgx wrote: post #6

I don't know why manufacturers aren't using machined polycarbonate more the way Nokia and HTC do. It seems LG and Sony are just now trying to be where Apple was 2 years ago with the glass-back phones, which I think was a very poor material to use and a mistake on Apple's part. I think they quickly realized that, but it took them a while to create an aluminum iPhone the right way, because as we know aluminum is not gr…

Android hasn't worked out well for HTC.

Re: Nokia sold 4.4 million Lumia smartphones in 'solid' Q4 2012

#18

Post by lawdawg »

jmodp wrote: post #17
mtgx wrote: post #6

I don't know why manufacturers aren't using machined polycarbonate more the way Nokia and HTC do. It seems LG and Sony are just now trying to be where Apple was 2 years ago with the glass-back phones, which I think was a very poor material to use and a mistake on Apple's part. I think they quickly realized that, but it took them a while to create an aluminum iPhone the right way, because as we know aluminum is not gr…

Android hasn't worked out well for HTC.

I didn't realize that 4 years of profitability meant not working out well.

Re: Nokia sold 4.4 million Lumia smartphones in 'solid' Q4 2012

#19

Post by kalid »

outside1234 wrote: post #3

I have a Nokia 920 and its solid, really solid. I went back to my iPhone over Christmas (I do mobile development) and I was thankful when I got back to the 920. Its very fast, very functional, love updating tiles. The only gotcha is music - the iPhone still crushes everyone on music apps / syncing / acquisition. Otherwise, the 920 was equal or better - even apps are coming along. Only missing Strava now for me.

For what it's worth, off the top of my head I picked RunKeeper as an app I'd need before switching platforms. They stopped supporting WP last year (http://wmpoweruser.com/runkeeper-calls-its-quits-on-windows-...).

It's becoming apparent that the app data can provide more lock-in than the OS itself. (I don't want to find an alternative and lose 2 years of data -- just for the first app I thought I'd need!)

Re: Nokia sold 4.4 million Lumia smartphones in 'solid' Q4 2012

#20

Post by freehunter »

jkat wrote: post #13
breckinloggins wrote: post #2

I've played with the Lumia at Best Buy a few times. It's a solid, attractive phone and I wouldn't be ashamed to carry one at all. I'm an iOS guy but as far as Windows Phone goes, I have to say it doesn't suck. I'm not saying that Microsoft's phone and tablet businesses will become a resounding success in spite of all current evidence, but I will say it would be a mistake to dismiss them.

I've never even seen a windows phone (maybe they aren't popular in Asia?)...I remember when they first came out, most reviews seemed to agree it was very superficial and in need of a lot of polish. Has to story changed?

WP 7.5 added an almost-perfect level of polish to WP7. WP8 could use the same treatment. I haven't seen anything really show-stopping, but there are some minor annoyances that pop up.

I don't recall seeing any reviews saying it needed significant polish beyond the fact of some missing features that were added in 7.1 and 7.5. Some of the inconsistent behavior has been cleaned up in 7.1, 7.5, and 8 (although 8 introduced some of its own). I don't regret running Windows Phone for the past two years. The only thing I miss is VPN support. The positives over Android and iOS vastly outweigh any of the negatives.

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