Nokia's Windows Phone models won't be smartphone blockbusters, according to an analyst. However, other data suggests a more positive response to the devices.
Despite
some positive reviews for their sleek design, Nokia's new line of Windows Phone
devices will fail to achieve blockbuster sales, according to an analyst.
"With
no breakthrough innovation, we believe Nokia's new phones are unlikely to get
traction in a highly concentrated high end," James Faucette, an analyst at
Pacific Crest Securities, wrote in a research note quoted by The New York Times
Nov.
22. With that in mind, he set Nokia Windows Phone sales for the quarter to
500,000 units, down from his previous projection of 2 million.
Nokia's
latest Windows Phone devices, the Lumia 710 and 800, are both handsomely
constructed. The Lumia 710 is priced as more of a midmarket phone, at the
equivalent of $376, while the Lumia 800 targets the higher end at $584. That
certainly makes them more expensive than many midrange Android devices on the
market, although carrier subsidies and other incentives will presumably lower
that buy-in cost.
Other
data, however, hints at more robust sales prospects for manufacturers producing
smartphones with Microsoft's software. According to a new estimate from the
blog
All
About Windows Phone, the platform could rack up 50,000 apps in its
marketplace in January 2012.
Other
studies have suggested an increased developer interest in Windows Phone,
following news of Microsoft's alliance with Nokia to create new devices for the
platform. According to Appcelerator and research firm IDF, which surveyed 2,160
Appcelerator Titanium developers earlier in November, Windows Phone has
eclipsed Research In Motion's BlackBerry OS as a subject of interest-making it
the third mobile OS behind Apple's iOS and Google Android.
"Microsoft
is enjoying symbiotic success with Nokia," read the
summary
of that report. "When asked why developers are more interested in Windows
Phone 7 now than a year ago, a plurality (48 percent) said it was the
Microsoft/Nokia partnership."
Earlier
this year, Nokia made the somewhat controversial decision to abandon its
homegrown operating systems, most notably Symbian, in favor of Windows Phone.
With Microsoft's help, the Finnish phone maker hopes to retain its global
presence in the face of fierce competition from both Apple's iPhone and Google
Android devices.
The
stakes of failure are indeed high.
"Microsoft
clearly understands the importance of having a viable mobile strategy," Charles
King, primary analyst at Pund-IT, told
eWEEK
Nov. 21. However, it has also "not really paid the money nor taken the time to
market [Windows Phone] properly." This has proved a serious mistake in the
battle with Apple, widely acknowledged as a superior marketer, and the various
Google Android manufacturers with their combined marketing efforts.
As
a result, Windows Phone's market share has languished in the year since the
platform's release. But Microsoft is pushing to change that, with its most
recent "Mango" software update and the beginnings of what could eventually
become a substantial marketing campaign.
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