
Nokia sold 4.4 million Lumia smartphones in 'solid' Q4 2012 - reg29
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/01/10/nokia-sold-4-4-million-lumia-smartphones-in-solid-q4-2012-results-exceeded-expectations/?awesm=tnw.to_f0aMK&utm_campaign=social%20media&utm_medium=Spreadus&utm_source=Twitter
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mtgx
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 great for
radio connections, so you'll have to arrange the radios in such a way that the
body doesn't interfere with them, which is probably why it took them so long,
and why they made the iPhone 4S identical to iPhone 4.

I won't even discuss Samsung, which seems to have a fetish for crappy plastic.
If it were after me, phones would all have metallic bodies, because it feels
the best in hand, but you won't get full metal bodies anyway, but a mixture of
metal and plastic or glass (like iPhone 5).

The best compromise between being easy to make and also feeling solid in hand
seems to be polycarbonate right now, and more manufacturers should be using
it, along with more colors for their devices, as I'm getting really bored with
the black and white "options". It's like most of them are afraid to even try
other (bold) colors, and just want to appeal to the lowest common denominator,
and in the same time complain about not being able to differentiate, other
than changing the skin on Android, which I think it's just an easy way out for
them, instead of actually doing interesting things with their hardware design.

The same thing applies to Nokia, which in the past have said that they
wouldn't be able to differentiate with Android, but I think a Lumia-like
device would've sold a lot more units with Android. Nokia's growth is being
limited a lot by WP's own growth right now. They can only grow as fast as WP
is growing, and if anything, it's Nokia pulling WP after them, rather than the
other way around, which just goes to show how much better it would do with
Android, which doesn't need to be "sold" to the public anymore.

~~~
glass-
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.

~~~
adventured
From personal experience you're completely wrong.

Every person I know - 9 out of 10 of which are average tech consumers - knows
Android by name. They know it's a platform, they know it's separate from Apple
and Microsoft, and occasionally they know there's some sort of connection to
Google.

And if you ask said people, they will absolutely tell you they have an Android
phone. In fact that's exactly how they define it as being separate from the
iPhone or Blackberry et al.

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breckinloggins
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.

~~~
mattmaroon
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.

~~~
lmm
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.

~~~
Blara
There are plenty of .NET developers so I don't think that will be an issue.

~~~
AnthonyMouse
Isn't that like saying "there are plenty of Java developers so I don't think
that will be an issue" when talking about RIM?

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Blara
Not really, I think that WP will have a bigger userbase than RIM and I think
that a better to compare against Android. I also assume that "phoneapps" will
work on desktop/tablet windows 8 as well... But again, this is just my
thoughts.

~~~
AnthonyMouse
>I think that WP will have a bigger userbase than RIM and I think that a
better to compare against Android.

I think you're being extraordinarily optimistic. The latest numbers I could
find quickly[1] show RIM with more than double the share of Microsoft, and
with both showing a reduction in share vs. six months prior. You might be able
to claim that people are abandoning RIM _faster_ than they're abandoning
Windows Phone, but even that is arguably because RIM is falling from a higher
initial position.

The other problem is that .NET makes no sense for mobile apps, because neither
of the two largest mobile platforms have good (if any?) support for it.
Everyone who is not some kind of Microsoft evangelist is going to support
Android/iOS first, which means they're not using .NET and are not going to
worry about a Windows port unless Windows Phone gets enough share to be worth
worrying about.

[1] [http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/30/comscore-android-us-
marke...](http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/30/comscore-android-us-market-share-
kept-growing-in-october/)

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lawdawg
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 Christmas Day alone. I can't imagine Q1
2013 being any better for Nokia when they have no major devices going out, and
no major WP upgrades upcoming either.

~~~
mtgx
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.

~~~
daliusd
Maybe that's the plan? IMHO Elop did everything to make Nokia unattractive to
all possible buyers except Microsoft. I see the only option for Apple to try
buying Nokia to at least make it more expensive for MS. I don't believe Apple
could buy Nokia because that most probably wouldn't be met very friendly by EU
bureaucrats.

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outside1234
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.

~~~
freehunter
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 huge, and free! The speakers on
the Lumia 920 are much better than iPhone speakers in comparisons with my
coworkers.

What music apps is WP missing in your experience?

~~~
dpark
> _$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.

~~~
freehunter
Good point, I did not know the new deal. I personally never really used the
DRM-free songs part of the bundle, I have software that watches my music
folder on my hard drive and when a new song comes in it exploits the "analog
hole" to strip the DRM from it and drop in a replacement MP3. It's pretty
comparable to Spotify, and if you have mostly Windows devices there's not much
incentive to look further than Xbox Music. iOS and Android support has been
announced but not given a firm date for launch.

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jwcooper
I've only ever owned iOS devices, but when I see a Windows Phone, I kind of do
a double take. Everything is so different, that I always want to play around
with it, and try them out.

I really want Microsoft to succeed in Windows Phone 8, and Windows 8, for the
simple reason that competition is good. We'll be much better off with 3 giant
companies competing rather than two.

Also, the prospect of having a tablet computer with a full OS on it (Windows 8
Pro tablets) is pretty interesting to me. Loading up Steam, Visual Studio, a
VM, while on the go (without the weight of a laptop) could be pretty neat.

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adandy
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
:(

~~~
dagw
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.

~~~
Gmo
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).

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milanvrekic
I bought one, had it for two weeks and crawled back to iOS. Phone as a phone
is very solid and beautiful, but Windows Mobile 8 is still a disaster.

Doing a factory reset (regular, honest-to-god, get in the menu and select a
reset) bricked the phone. And it seems to be common bug. Microsoft is blaming
Nokia and Nokia is Blaming Microsoft....

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richardlblair
I'm more than proud to say I'm apart of those 4.4 million sales.

~~~
JimmaDaRustla
I will be, waiting for the thinner/lighter 920.

~~~
richardlblair
Watch out bro.. you're going to get downvoted with that kind of talk.

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jpxxx
Perhaps there's hope of them being a top-10 smartphone manufacturer someday.

~~~
jxi
They were top 10 before. They were #1 at some point too with the best phone
back in the day: N95.

~~~
Samuel_Michon
The N95 and the iPhone were both released in 2007, 3 months apart.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_n95>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone_(1st_generation)>

