Nokia’s long-awaited Lumia line has certainly received some serious marketing, both from Microsoft, the tech community and Nokia itself. It has a number of exclusive apps, some radically beautiful designs and, most importantly, the push of the market behind it.
IDC has released some data that might be interesting to us Canadians. Nokia apparently shipped 2.2m Lumia devices in the U.S. in the first quarter of this year. Keep in mind that’s not 2.2 million units sold, but shipped to retailers such as Best Buy, Amazon and local AT&T and T-Mobile stores. Why is this relevant to us? Because it gives a good indication of how well the Lumia devices have done in Canada.
The Lumia 710 was released first on Rogers and subsequently came to WIND and Mobilicity; it’s a great phone for a cheap price and I’ve seen many of them floating around the streets of Toronto. The Lumia 800 came to TELUS and was the only North American carrier to get the hot device. When asked how the 800 was selling, the company’s VP of Mobility Solutions, Brent Johnston said, “We are very pleased with the sales performance thus far, with Lumia sales meeting our expectations.”
When Rogers released the LTE-powered Lumia 900 only a day after AT&T, it was thought that this would propel Windows Phone into the mainstream in North America. A very high-profile device on two big carriers, in conjunction with an expensive advertising campaign and marketing push, would mean big sales, right? We don’t have the breakdown of Lumia sales based on device, but it’s definitely thought that the majority of those sales were for the 900.
Now that all three devices (and soon the Lumia 610) have had a chance to proliferate in Canada, Nokia can focus on equipped retail salespeople with the right information in order to push its products to the right users. It’s very easy for someone to say, “Go for an iPhone,” or “Look at the latest Samsung Galaxy,” since those are well-known products. But they weren’t well-known at one point, and the Lumia line is distinctive enough to warrant a look. Microsoft’s Smoked By Windows Phone campaign, which hit Toronto in the last few weeks, is in full force and is doing a great job with the general market speak.
So while 2.2m Lumia devices shipped may sound low, it’s a step in the right direction for Nokia, who is firmly committed to making Windows Phone a success.
Source: NYTimes
Via: PhoneArena
