Lumia claims strong start in Europe, could net AT&T

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Lumia claims strong start in Europe, could net AT&T

Nokia says its WP7 flagship has seen its highest ever level of pre-orders as it ships in the UK, France and Germany

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 18 November, 2011

READ MORE: Nokia | Handset | Windows Phone

Nokia claims pre-orders for its new Lumia 800 smartphone are the highest it has ever seen, but the success of its WP7 flagship will depend on signing up plenty more operators for a second push in 2012, especially in the US. AT&T is reported to be negotiating to carry the phone, but others, like Telefonica O2, have been more cautious. The two Lumia models went on sale in the UK, France and Germany this week but will not come to the US until early 2012.

The tiny share and relatively low profile of WP7 make the platform a riskier option for cellcos than Android or iPhone, and Telefonica recently embarked on a program to cut the number of handsets its offers across its territories by more than half, which could be bad news for more niche offerings. It has said the Lumia 800 is too expensive for its O2 UK division, though it will consider future models, but it is taking a different view in Germany, where O2 Germany will offer the handset. According to the blog WMPowerUser, Nokia has tempted the German cellco with thousands of euros in bonus payments for stores which achieve high sales of the two Lumia phones. This will make the range the "major holiday season strategy" for O2 Germany.

Nokia's French chief, Paul Amsellem, has high hopes for Lumia in his market as Bouygues Telecom is offering the 800 for just €99 with contract, undercutting €129 for a Samsung Galaxy S2 and €199 for an iPhone 4S. Nokia has said it aims to make the initial Lumias very price competitive in order to stimulate interest, and will add higher and lower end models in the new year.

Spokesperson Ray Haddow said on the day that the device went on sale in the UK: "The level of pre-orders, as well as reaction in shops today, lead us to be very positive about the launch of the Nokia Lumia 800. "The public have had hands on in many retail stores over the past week and were in store in abundance today, not only trying out this amazing device, but signing up for some of the great deals available."

Of course, one of the toughest and most critical challenges for Lumia will be to break Nokia's duck in the US. AT&T is the most enthusiastic of the US cellcos about WP7 and has been the most friendly to Nokia in recent years, selling several of its high end N or E Series Symbian gadgets. However, the Finnish vendor will need more than a place in the catalog to make the elusive US breakthrough - it will be negotiating for a hefty marketing campaign and may well be prepared to offer high incentives, as it has reportedly done in Germany.

Glenn Lurie, head of AT&T's emerging devices unit, told a Morgan Stanley conference in Spain that the cellco was working on completing the details of the agreement with Nokia. "We look at every promotional period separately and decide what we're going to spend our dollars on and what we're going to put our efforts in," he said. "But nothing to announce there on that yet."