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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

#31

Post by rayiner »

lmm wrote: post #27
mattmaroon wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That's the thing. MS has actually produced a really good product, better than any of the alternatives. But it's not going to be enough, because they're too late to get the app developers.

WP8 is not better than the alternatives. It's good and has some cool features, but it was buggy on release and still suffers from being brand new and all of the lack of polish that comes with that.

There's also, ironically, giant gaping holes in the app/feature selection for business users. No Citrix, no VPN, no app that lets you get to OWA mail if ActiveSync is disabled on your Exchange account, etc.

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

#32

Post by dpark »

freehunter wrote: post #23
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.

I never understand when people say the iPhone is better for music. I'll grant you the Windows 8 Music app sucks on the desktop, but Zune was solid on Windows 7. The WP8 music app is great, the Zune Pass/Xbox Music Pass is basically the biggest reason I can't seriously consider switching platforms. $8/mo for 10 songs DRM-free and streaming/caching all other songs in their database is huge! Nokia Music playlists are hu…

> $8/mo for 10 songs DRM-free and streaming/caching all other songs in their database is huge

Just FYI, it's $10/mo now, and the "10 free songs per month" deal is gone. If you had a Zune pass, you were grandfathered in, but new signups get the new deal. Still a good deal given the catalog size, but perhaps not as good as it once was.

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

#33

Post by durzagott »

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.

"the iPhone still crushes everyone on music apps / syncing / acquisition"

I'll give you "acquisition", but if you are for a moment suggesting that iTunes is anything other than a steaming turd, then I must respectfully disagree.

I personally prefer the plethora of music apps available for Android and that Google Music cloud thing ain't too shabby either.

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

#34

Post by dpark »

kalid wrote: post #19
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!)

RunKeeper mentions Caledos as an option on their site. I haven't used it, and don't know how seamlessly it integrates with RunKeeper, but it has largely good ratings.

http://runkeeper.com/apps/activity-tracking/caledos-runner-o...

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/caledos-runner/0...

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

#35

Post by glasshead969 »

lawdawg wrote: post #18
jmodp wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Android hasn't worked out well for HTC.

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

HTC is not having a good time in Android Marketplace. At this point Samsung is synonymous to Android, at least to a mainstream customer. They dropped 91% profits YOY.

http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/07/htc-q4-profits-slide-to-jus...

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

#36

Post by diminish »

mattmaroon wrote: post #15
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.

A lot of Apple users praise the WPs since a couple launches here. Could this mean that Microsoft finally lures away a lot of them to their platform?

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

#37

Post by ChuckMcM »

lmm wrote: post #27
mattmaroon wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That's the thing. MS has actually produced a really good product, better than any of the alternatives. But it's not going to be enough, because they're too late to get the app developers.

There is late and there is staying power. When Google's G1 came out people said "Has promise but the iPhone has too much of a lead." People said that Apple would never be compelling in the personal computer business again. People said RIM was too entrenched to be dislodged from the Enterprise. It goes on and on.

Time and time again, making a good product, sticking to the mission and making it the best it can be, has resulted in success for that product. So if Windows Phone is a solid product, and Microsoft sticks to it, they will have a very good chance of becoming a force to be reckoned with.

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

#38

Post by Gmo »

dagw wrote: post #12
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.

That's because they just don't have stocks ... I don't know what Nokia did, but their production is not up to the demand (the demand itself being not THAT extraordinary, even if honest).

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

#39

Post by VMG »

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.

The question is if "not Android" would have worked out better

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

#40

Post by OGinparadise »

mtgx wrote: post #9
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…

To put that in perspective with Android sales, the whole of WP sold in a quarter as much as Android in 4 days. I still think Nokia made a huge mistake not making Android phones, too. 4 million Lumias (low-end and high-end ones) is not enough to make them recover on time. They'll still probably get acquired, possibly this year.

Nokia is up by double digits so investors are liking this. With confidence, they might even raise the money they need.

Whether it's as good for Microsoft it's another story

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