Lumia 810 - Indications of exclusive devices on the different US carriers?

[Heron_Kusanagi]

It's not as if that Verizon will suddenly get a L922/L910 or something, but I think it's interesting how with 1 device, Nokia might have proved that there's method to their apparent madness.

Some exclusive midrange devices that can compete with the exclusive droids from the other manufacturers. The US market is special, but Nokia might be back now.

OT: I do hope that Nokia will give the international fans a crack at the L810.

 

[12Danny123]

Yes. They did say that they are giving each carrier a unquie phone. Like t-mobile got the 810 and at&t got the 920 and 820 and Verizon will likely get the 822 and 922

 

[socialcarpet]

Yes. They did say that they are giving each carrier a unquie phone. Like t-mobile got the 810 and at&t got the 920 and 820 and Verizon will likely get the 822 and 922

Exactly.

Which is why it's a little ridiculous that some people are freaking out about "exclusives"

Nokia said as much a while back, that they would be bringing unique handsets to different carriers.

Personally I'm just going to sit back for a while and watch.

 

[metrop021]

Yes. They did say that they are giving each carrier a unquie phone. Like t-mobile got the 810 and at&t got the 920 and 820 and Verizon will likely get the 822 and 922

Yep, I expect the same.

I think each carrier just wants to 'feel' like they have their own exclusive device so they can market it as such. Being able to boast that only they have this awesome device is a good marketing strategy. Nokia looks like they're going to play that game.

 

[Villain]

well if nokia is in fact going to continue this.... color me surprised.

 

[12Danny123]

Yep, I expect the same.

I think each carrier just wants to 'feel' like they have their own exclusive device so they can market it as such. Being able to boast that only they have this awesome device is a good marketing strategy. Nokia looks like they're going to play that game.

Agreed. They can have the main phones the 920 and 820 on AT&T and make a variant on other carriers like the 810. While they can make a variant. They can make it the same specs and also exclusive to that carrier. Like the 810 is exclusive to t-mobile. While it's basically a 820 with different looks. It would actually make t-mobile advertise it while keeping everything the same. Now this is the same for Verizon. Nokia releases a 920 variant on Verizon and make it look different with having almost everything in the 920. Verizon will advertise it because it's exclusive to Verizon. This is what nokianks doing. Getting the same phone on multiple carriers while getting them to advertise it. By making variants with the sales specs as the original

 

[jabtano]

Yep, I expect the same.

I think each carrier just wants to 'feel' like they have their own exclusive device so they can market it as such. Being able to boast that only they have this awesome device is a good marketing strategy. Nokia looks like they're going to play that game.

Yea T-MO must feel blessed with there very own exclusive L810 sigh...nothing to see here folks T-MO is...er never mind the kids are in the room with me.

 

[12Danny123]

well if nokia is in fact going to continue this.... color me surprised.

I would pn't feel surprised at all. Because it's a good marketing strategy. Release a variant phone and they will advertise it

 

[peterfares]

The L810 is so similar to the L820 that I wouldn't be surprised if they run practically the same ROM with different carrier crapps preloaded.

 

[ImmortalWarrior]

The thing that would annoy be about this would be that they may remove certain frequencies from the radios. Thus limiting the phone to less carriers, making it less economical to "unlock-and-go".

I like that I can take my 900 to pretty much any carrier. It makes it immensely useful and it will still remain so as my back up phone. If they stripped radio tech from a 910/922 to cater to one carrier I would be disappointed. Especially if they do so to the 920s.

 

[a5cent]

The L810 is so similar to the L820 that I wouldn't be surprised if they run practically the same ROM with different carrier crapps preloaded.

Ehm... except with WP devices, carrier apps aren't baked into the ROM. Bloatware Adieu.

Microsoft's WP OS [in ROM]: is identical across all devices.

OEM's Firmware [in ROM]: OEM's very low level software (manage radios, battery power etc) and the OEM's drivers enabling WP to access the OEM's peripheral hardware (camera's, gyroscopes, etc)

All else is in flash storage, including the OEM's own apps.

 

[brmiller1976]

I'm not sure that I see the benefit of a bunch of minor variations of the same handset across carriers.

If it's the only way that Nokia can crack the US market, I guess that's okay. But it creates an exceptionally large number of confusing products with limited differentiation.

 

[VagrantWade]

Yes. They did say that they are giving each carrier a unquie phone. Like t-mobile got the 810 and at&t got the 920 and 820 and Verizon will likely get the 822 and 922

Link to them ever saying each carrier would get a unique phone?

 

[a5cent]

I'm not sure that I see the benefit of a bunch of minor variations of the same handset across carriers.

There is no benefit to consumers, because it's not about consumers. It's about carriers and Nokia's requirement that carriers advertise the "unique" devices they have. Everyone on this site will understand that the differences between those devices (and the ones that will follow) are superficial, but most consumers won't. It's just marketing.

Yes, the variations are deliberately minor. It's about making the devices as "unique" as possible, while ensuring actual/real technical differences are as good as non-existent. That minimizes the amount of effort Nokia's developers must later invest into supporting each SKU, as all devices will use similar if not identical firmware.

Apparently, "carrier exclusivity" is the price the underdog must pay, in exchange for advertising dollars and carrier sales staff pushing Nokia's devices.

 

[brmiller1976]

The variations increase production costs, and thus device costs. That's one reason why Samsung did away with the carrier variations when they launched the Galaxy S III. Note that prices on that handset are far lower for a full-priced purchase than the S II and S variants were when they launched. That's no coincidence.

 

[a5cent]

The variations increase production costs, and thus device costs. That's one reason why Samsung did away with the carrier variations when they launched the Galaxy S III. Note that prices on that handset are far lower for a full-priced purchase than the S II and S variants were when they launched. That's no coincidence.

Yes, I agree. But as I said, that is the price Nokia must pay for carrier support.

If you agree that Nokia must get carriers on board, then Nokia's approach is the best you can hope for. Yes, it reduces Nokia's ability to leverage economies of scale, but you could argue they haven't got much leverage in that area anyway. At least those variations won't be tying up an extra couple hundred people per device in their R&D and support departments, as many of those devices are, from a technical point of view, identical. That would have been much more expensive.

 

[peterfares]

Ehm... except with WP devices, carrier apps aren't baked into the ROM. Bloatware Adieu.

Microsoft's WP OS [in ROM]: is identical across all devices.

OEM's Firmware [in ROM]: OEM's very low level software (manage radios, battery power etc) and the OEM's drivers enabling WP to access the OEM's peripheral hardware (camera's, gyroscopes, etc)

All else is in flash storage, including the OEM's own apps.

Ehm... Yes they are. They get reinstalled when you hard reset, hence they're in the ROM. You can uninstall them, but the installer is still in the ROM for when you hard reset again.

 

[Dr. Impossible]

I think it's smart and it satisfies all the carriers whilst giving everyone something different.

I don't really feel like the 920 and 820 are the 'main' phones anymore. I think the T-Mo phone is gorgeous, better looking than the 820, and it would not surprise me to see one or two more higher spec Nok phones in the next couple of weeks. I feel pretty strongly that Verizon will get another Higher-spec Nokia like a 910 or 922 or something.

Thanks

-Doc

 

[tk-093]

I doubt AT&T would agree to pay a bunch of money to Nokia to get an exclusive 920 if simply calling it a 922 on Verizon is all it takes to get around an exclusive agreement like that.

 

[Heron_Kusanagi]

The variations increase production costs, and thus device costs. That's one reason why Samsung did away with the carrier variations when they launched the Galaxy S III. Note that prices on that handset are far lower for a full-priced purchase than the S II and S variants were when they launched. That's no coincidence.

You forget that while variations increase cost, if the price Nokia gets is higher than the cost involved, Nokia actually profits more.

And that's what I imagine is going through the minds of Nokia executives when they decided on this strategy.