Nokia's Lumia 920, flagship device  of the Microsoft Windows Phone 8 mobile platform, is beginning to show signs of a sales boom. The device has sold out on Amazon , some versions have wait times on AT&T , and retailers in Germany and Australia are reporting they are out of stock.
The Amazon wait time for the black version of the 4G device it sells is as long as two weeks. On AT&T's Web site, the black version is also sold out and is out of stock, while the yellow and cyan models have wait times of one or two weeks. The white and red models are in stock.
The 920's trip to smartphone stardom has recently had some bumps. Users on various Web forums, including Microsoft's and Nokia's, have reported multiple reboots on the 920 as well as the Windows Phone 8-based HTC 8X. In some cases, the spontaneous reboots have occurred multiple times during a day. Additionally, there have been complaints that the 920 locks up, resets, or leaves the user in endless loops inside e-mail accounts that try to sync up.
Over-the-Air Fix
Some users have said that random freeze-ups on the 920 appear to occur when Bluetooth peripherals are used with the phone. Others have suggested that the problem stemmed from a preview app of Skype for Windows Phone 8. However, there had been reports of the rebooting and syncing problems before the Skype preview app was released.
Microsoft had said it was investigating the reports. On Tuesday, the technology giant announced it would release an over-the-air fix for the problems next month. In a statement, the company said that it was "continuing to investigate some reports of phones rebooting and have identified a cause with our partners," but declined to identify the cause.
The Lumia line has sold about 11 million units thus far, driven by sales in the U.S. and China, although third-quarter sales had dropped by 28 percent over the second quarter. Analysts have noted the partnerships Nokia has developed with U.S. carriers, such as AT&T. The Lumia 900 had been among AT&T's top three best-selling phones through July, for the first four months of its existence.
Potential Clouds
Nokia is also trying new ways to differentiate its phones. Earlier this week, for instance, it announced a partnership with Facebook for a new phone, the Asha 205, which will come with a built-in Facebook button for frequent visitors to that popular social networking site.
But there are also two new, potential clouds on Nokia's brightening horizon. There are reports this week that Microsoft, its new Best Friend Forever, may be manufacturing its own Windows Phone 8 smartphone, which will go by the same Surface name as Microsoft's tablet.
The other potential cloud could be the much-awaited launch of Research In Motion's BlackBerry 10 platform and devices at the end of January. A good reception for BB10 could dampen any growing enthusiasm for a hot smartphone that doesn't use Google's Android or Apple's iOS.
techy46:
Posted: 2012-12-02 @ 11:51am PT
3-5m Lumia 920 in Q4 2012, 5-7m in Q1 2013.
European:
Posted: 2012-12-02 @ 2:16am PT
Luke Warm, check the map. Canada is as much in America as is USA. They are even both in North America. Thus you can safely say that Canada is American, and so is Blackberry since it is Canadian.
woomera:
Posted: 2012-11-29 @ 8:35pm PT
I bought a Nokia 920. My 7yo JasJam still runs circles around this phone.This phone was made for women and children... not for work. i.e., no External Antenna or Stylus. I was able to upgrade my JasJam battery. It lasts three days. What does one do in 2 years when this $800 phone's battery dies? Of course, buy another new phone made for children. I want to throw away paper. Need a stylus BADLY for this phone. Make a phone for WORK not PLAY!
-Have to Upgrade PC to Win8 to use this phone
-OneNote ONLY Syncs with Skydrive.
-Have to SYNC ALL contacts with Hotmail.
-Can't organize contacts as business/personal.
-Keyboard just as bad as Android (too small)
-Battery Life is VERY nominal. Keep the charger handy.
I bought this phone because I thought SKYPE would be totally integrated into the phone. It worked OK but needs to be able to change ringer sound. I work around machinery and need LOUD!
-Phone made for Townies. I work everywhere and anywhere and take notes with my JasJam and need to sync with my PC when I can only receive GSM signals. None of this Skydrive business works everywhere.
Luke Warm:
Posted: 2012-11-29 @ 5:09am PT
Blackberry too American? Puzzling, as it's a Canadian company. Did you mean too North American?
CESSNA:
Posted: 2012-11-29 @ 4:53am PT
11 million is WP7+WP8 handsets.
wait for jan to get the WP8 figures
AERO:
Posted: 2012-11-28 @ 8:19pm PT
11 million is not the number of 920s that have been sold - Nokia won't comment yet on that figure. As for Blackberry... they're not used in Australia either. Too American for our liking.
Looking forward to my two week wait on my new Lumia. Phone sold out at Telstra shops within hours of pre-orders becoming available...
Steve:
Posted: 2012-11-28 @ 5:29pm PT
Nice article! As a longtime shareholder of Nokia, I like to hear those kind of figures -- 11 millions -- if that true, very impressive. And just wait until it will start selling in China and India! It's not about Blackberry's threat. I think that is highly overrated, at least here in Europe, "nobody" is using that system...
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