14 DAY TRIAL // Last year, Nokia made available its first handsets to run under Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system, namely the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710.
Both of them landed on shelves in a small set of countries before the end of 2011, where they proved rather successful.
However, it seems that their performance was actually lagging, and that Nokia might have never reached the 1 million sold units before 2011 was over.
Lumia 800 was made available in mid-November in a series of European countries, while Nokia Lumia 710 landed on the market in December.
Today, Nokia announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of last year, and announced sales of over 1 million Windows Phone devices to date.
“To date we have sold well over 1 million Lumia devices. From this beachhead of more than 1 million Lumia devices, you will see us push forward with the sales, marketing and successive product introductions necessary to be successful.,” Stephen Elop, CEO, Nokia, said.
The company will focus on making these devices available in more markets around the world during the first six months of the current year.
“We also plan to bring the Lumia series to additional markets including China and Latin America in the first half of 2012,” Elop stated.
One way or the other, Nokia remains committed to Windows Phone. The company expects its Symbian sales to shrink further, which means that the focus will remain on Windows Phone in the months/years to come.
“In the war of ecosystems, clearly there are some strong contenders already on the field. And with Lumia, we have demonstrated that we belong on the field. Our specific intent has been to establish a beachhead in this war of ecosystems, and country by country that is what we are now accomplishing,” Elop said.
In Q1 2012, Nokia will have on shelves a third Windows Phone device, the Nokia Lumia 900, the latest flagship model from the company. It is expected to become the most popular of the three, especially in the United States, where it packs LTE connectivity.
Nokia Lumia 900 is rumored to land on shelves at AT&T on March 18th, featuring a price tag of $99 on contract.
Lumia 710 was already made available in the country, via T-Mobile. Nokia also announced that Lumia 800 would be released unlocked in the US soon.
“We have also started our important re-entry into the North American market. Earlier this month, T-Mobile started selling the Nokia Lumia 710 as a lead device,” Elop said.
“We also announced the new Nokia Lumia 900 with AT&T, and immediately received a number of industry awards. The Nokia Lumia 900 is our third Lumia device, our first LTE device designed specifically for the North American market, and AT&T is positioning the Lumia 900 as a lead LTE device.”