New Nokia Lumia Phone Seen As A Strong Contender Against iPhone and Samsung

New Nokia Lumia Phone Seen As A Strong Contender Against iPhone and Samsung

Nokia's new Lumia smartphones are oozing into the market and early signs suggest they may sell well enough to give the handset maker more time in its fight against industry leaders Samsung and Apple.

However investors shouldn't expect a quick turn for the struggling Finnish cellphone maker, with rival gadgets like mini tablet computers competing for consumers' attention, analysts said.

"Positive reviews are a great start but as we have seen many times before these won't deliver strong sales volumes on their own," said Pete Cunningham, an analyst at research firm Canalys.

Successful sales of the latest Lumia 920 and 820 models are crucial for Nokia's survival. The former market leader is burning through cash while it loses share in both high-end smartphones and cheaper handsets.
FIM Securities analyst Michael Schroder forecast Nokia will sell 1-3 million of the new models this quarter. It sold 2.9 million older Lumia models in the third quarter, compared to Apple's sales of around 26.6 million iPhones in the same period.
"In any case the uptake will not be massive," he predicted.
Lumia's sales could serve a verdict on Chief Executive Stephen Elop's decision in February 2011 to partner with Microsoft instead of using Google's Android or continuing to develop Nokia's own operating system.

So far, consumer reviews seem to favor the feel and look of the new models, which include high-definition cameras and the latest Microsoft Windows Phone 8 software.

"The Lumia 920 is very similar in appearance to the Lumia 900, but has curved glass, rounded edges, and curved back so it feels great in your hand. It is a dense device, but if you look at all the pros and cons the heft is worth it," said a reviewer for tech website ZDNet.

Posted by Sophia Andrews on Thursday November 15 2012, 8:25 AM EDT. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Shopping. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0