Pre-Xmas gambit hinges on Windows 8 take-up
Nokia has jumped into the gap between the launch dates of Samsung’s new Galaxy Note and Apple’s iPhone 5 to debut its latest handset running Windows 8. The struggling Finnish manufacturer is due to unveil its latest phone range at Nokia World in Helskini on September 5th [2012], a week after Samsung but a week ahead of Apple. Former Microsoft exec Stephen Elop, who was brought in two years ago to revive Nokia, is gambling on a big advertising push by his former employers to push the new operating system and, with it, sales of his Lumia handsets. All sides are now geared up battle royale in the run up to Christmas.
To give Lumia sales more edge it’s reported Nokia has also put together a volunteer ‘army’ of its US workers, from finance to HR personnel, to work shoulder-to-shoulder with regular salesmen at phone retail outlets.
Many analysts think it is now make or break time for Nokia which has had to lay off thousands of workers amid plummeting revenues.
Crucial to its survival is the U.S. though it has an uphill task to catch up with Apple and Samsung.
In the last quarter Nokia sold just 600,000 handsets in North America, even after introducing its flagship Lumia 900 in April.
This compares with the 5.9 million iPhones sold in the U.S. by Apple.
© Dollargate Publishing 2012. All rights reserved.
Why always the quoted US sales figures? Are Nokia a US company making phones only for the US market? Seriously, there’s a big wide world out there – outside of the US. Nokia’s figures may be much lower than Apple and Samsung worldwide too, but at least find out what the figures are so that the story makes sense.