Could the 8X be the WP8 "sleeper hit" in the US?

[brmiller1976]

I think the 8X is just dead-sexy in blue. Can't wait to see one in person. I think, barring some exceptionally cool other product coming out, that I'll be grabbing one for myself on T-Mo.

 

[aubreyq]

...by the looks of it nokia's real focus is the 800 series and the 920 being just for bragging rights.

If that ends up being the case then I feel bad for Nokia. I'm honestly not feeling the 820/810 series. They're cool but kind of "bricky." To be fair, so is the 920 but what you get from it more than makes up for the physical aspects, at least for some people. Still have the pricing part to deal with.

 

[brmiller1976]

The 810 would be a great phone for my mom... which is sorta the whole problem.

These days, consumers want the same "cutting edge" tech that the "pros" go for. All the hottest new devices, like the stunning new Visio PCs (being sold at Walmart, BTW), the iPhone 5, the Galaxy S III, and even low-end cars, are loaded with "high end high performance technologies."

Even my mom got this bug. She didn't want the LG "messaging phone" or the basic Radar 4G, she wanted a "professional grade" BlackBerry 9900 (no matter how often I tried to change her mind).

I think the idea of the "consumer-grade smartphone" being separate from the "high end smartphone" is as obsolete an idea as the 1980s model of "home computers" (Atari ST, Amiga, some Mac) being separate from "work PCs" (DOS, Windows, some Mac).

 

[theeboredone]

I think the 8X is just dead-sexy in blue. Can't wait to see one in person. I think, barring some exceptionally cool other product coming out, that I'll be grabbing one for myself on T-Mo.

I've gotten a chance to hold the "blue" 8X in hand. I know they classify it as an "Atlantic Blue", but it really does look like Purple.

Nokia has the "Cyan" color, which I do prefer more. All in all, why can't a regular blue just come out? lol

 

[aubreyq]

The 810 would be a great phone for my mom... which is sorta the whole problem.

These days, consumers want the same "cutting edge" tech that the "pros" go for...the iPhone 5, the Galaxy S III, and even low-end cars, are loaded with "high end high performance technologies."

...

I think the idea of the "consumer-grade smartphone" being separate from the "high end smartphone" is as obsolete an idea as the 1980s model of "home computers" (Atari ST, Amiga, some Mac) being separate from "work PCs" (DOS, Windows, some Mac).

Agree 100%. It looks like the "featurephone" is getting squeezed out of the market. For example, my wife has a Sony Ericsson flip-phone that's been eligible for an upgrade for over a year. She's interested in an upgrade, but not necessarily a smartphone. Well, there's not a lot of options in that area. The featurephones are real shi*ty. It would be nice if you could get a texting phone with great quality and maybe a camera but it doesn't force you on a data plan. Doesn't really exist, does it?

Looks like she'll be getting a smartphone even though she'll rarely be using the data service. The carriers knew this was coming and pushed all of us in this direction. Well played.

 

[12Danny123]

I do think MS wants HTC to Dominate North America, South America and Oceania(including Australian Continent). For Nokia is Europe and Asia and Africa. which is fair enough.

 

[stmav]

Agree 100%. It looks like the "featurephone" is getting squeezed out of the market. For example, my wife has a Sony Ericsson flip-phone that's been eligible for an upgrade for over a year. She's interested in an upgrade, but not necessarily a smartphone. Well, there's not a lot of options in that area. The featurephones are real shi*ty. It would be nice if you could get a texting phone with great quality and maybe a camera but it doesn't force you on a data plan. Doesn't really exist, does it?

Looks like she'll be getting a smartphone even though she'll rarely be using the data service. The carriers knew this was coming and pushed all of us in this direction. Well played.

Agree with this totally. Had the same thing with my wife. Her contract had been up for a while but she didn't want a smartphone. Her Rumor finally died and she had to. She did want a phone with a larger screen but could care less about anything else. She also likes a physical keyboard. Been trying to steer the family towards WP, son got a L900. Got her on a Arrive. Got her bigger screen and the keyboard. Since then she's gotten the hang of sky drive and picture sharing with the kids and loves it. Can just pull out her phone and show off pics of the grandkids. Plus when she discovered she could get directions if she needed it, icing on the cake.

Down side is of course Sprint doesn't support the phone now. But as long as it last her a couple of years, she could care less. And I've been paying attention to the people talking about no ETF with Sprint due to their current stance.

 

[jdevenberg]

Once again, no they didn't. They said it was a "signature" windows 8 phone. Which is just a buzz word.

Microsoft isn't going with anything. They are just helping HTC more because AT&T is footing the marketing/subsidization bill entirely for Nokia.

Period. That is it. That is the reason. If you think Microsoft gives a crap about either company beyond wanting WP8 to gain marketshare, then I have a ketchup Popsicle to sell this lady with white gloves. HTC has the inferior phone, and thusly, needs the help. If you mention Windows Phone 8 to anyone not biased, the first phone that will pop into their head is the Lumia 920.

Flagship, signature device, 6 of one, a half dozen of the other. It's the same thing. The title of the press release from the two companies was "HTC and Microst unveil first signature Windows Phones". Microsoft chose to make the 8X the the face of WP8 whether you like it or not. There are two reasons they did this: 1. HTC was willing to name their phone Windows Phone 8X/S, putting MS's OS first and making it center of attention. 2. Wide carrier availability instead of locking it to one carrier in the United States. Nokia on the other hand puts the lumia brand first, and wants to provide a different version of their phones on every carrier or lock it to one carrier. That makes a advertising campaign much more difficult and less effective. Instead of advertising one or two phones available on all carriers vs. 3-4+ phones each on a different carrier and making people feel like they are missing out on something.

 

[crystal_planet]

I do think MS wants HTC to Dominate North America, South America and Oceania(including Australian Continent). For Nokia is Europe and Asia and Africa. which is fair enough.

Australia is a tough market. Don't oem's have to build the handsets upside down?

 

[12Danny123]

Australia is a tough market. Don't oem's have to build the handsets upside down?

No.......?

 

[Joelist]

You need to look at it from carrier perspective too.

Verizon and AT&T both want WP8 to sell well because the price per unit they pay for it is far less than what they pay Apple and is probably equal to or even a bit lower than what they are paying the Android OEMs (because of all the $$$ MS gets from them for the patented tech they use). End result is more profit per unit.

Also, if they can get WP8 up to a decent marketshare (over 10% with a delta trending up), they gain leverage against Apple in particular to get them to lower their per unit prices (most of which is pure profit to Apple).

 

[12Danny123]

You need to look at it from carrier perspective too.

Verizon and AT&T both want WP8 to sell well because the price per unit they pay for it is far less than what they pay Apple and is probably equal to or even a bit lower than what they are paying the Android OEMs (because of all the $$$ MS gets from them for the patented tech they use). End result is more profit per unit.

Also, if they can get WP8 up to a decent marketshare (over 10% with a delta trending up), they gain leverage against Apple in particular to get them to lower their per unit prices (most of which is pure profit to Apple).

Yeah. That is why Verizon and AT&T, Verizon and t-mobile are going all in for wp8 an win 8

 

[brmiller1976]

Australia is a tough market. Don't oem's have to build the handsets upside down?

And mirror image, since they drive on the wrong side of the road to boot!

 

[12Danny123]

And mirror image, since they drive on the wrong side of the road to boot!

The reason why kiwis and aussies drive on the wrong side of the road becuase we are part of the British commonwealth. Meaning we are owned by the British

 

[Villain]

The reason why kiwis and aussies drive on the wrong side of the road becuase we are part of the British commonwealth. Meaning we are owned by the British

well I'm canadian (which is part of the commonwealth) and I don't drive on the wrong side of the road

 

[tissotti]

He's right, I believe the word Microsoft used was 'signature' although I may be wrong. They worked very closely with HTC hence why these phones are being known as "Windows Phone 8X" and "Windows Phone 8S". It's mostly to combat the fact that right now people are more aware of the Lumia brand than of Windows Phone

Elop's answer was simple that Nokia did not want to make their phone "Windows Phone". Microsoft asked, Nokia said no.

I think it’s ambiguous, because, of course, any one of us could have called our phones Windows Phones. The Windows Phone promise is a certain experience in terms of the operating system it carries. The reason that we continue with the name Lumia is that Lumia stands for something more. It’s based on Windows Phone, but whether it’s wireless charging, photography, location-based services, unique applications, there’s a whole collection of capabilities that are beyond the standard Windows Phone product that you see from the other vendors. We very deliberately have made more investments than anyone else. We have worked more closely with Microsoft to even accomplish these things, and that’s the point. Yes, we could have called our devices Windows Phone 920 or whatever, but we felt it was important to say that we stand for something a step above. And that the Nokia brand stands for something quite unique, so we’re proud to do that.

Lumia brand is more searched than Windows Phone itself. So it's kind of easy to see why Nokia did what it did.
Nokia has said since start that they are bringing the Lumia/Nokia experience. Similar to what they did back in the days when they did not own Symbian.

Thinking the deal Samsung and Microsoft did they probably where given the possibility as well. HTC seemed to see reason to take the offer. Nokia rather kept it's own brand as they bring so much more to the table compared to anybody else.

I do think MS wants HTC to Dominate North America, South America and Oceania(including Australian Continent). For Nokia is Europe and Asia and Africa. which is fair enough.

Some of you are reading way too much into this.

 

[independentvolume]

Well, after seeing nokias offerings for tmobile and Verizon the 8x should own the united states.

 

[12Danny123]

Well, after seeing nokias offerings for tmobile and Verizon the 8x should own the united states.

I'm half and half for you. Yes becuase it's basically the s3 of wp. And they will advertise it heavily. No for side because the 920 is one of the most hyped phones in 2012 and will be advertised heavily for those people on AT&T

 

[independentvolume]

I'm half and half for you. Yes becuase it's basically the s3 of wp. And they will advertise it heavily. No for side ipthe 920 is one of the most hyped phones in 2012 and will be advertised heavily for those people on AT&T

They sold 600,000 900s on at&t. Let's say they sell 900,000 of the 920 which I think is highly unrealistic considering most who like WP just bought the 900. Either way, the 8x will easily outsell that since it's on tmobile, at&t, and Verizon. The common man isn't going to switch carriers for a windows phone. It just won't happen.

 

[12Danny123]

They sold 600,000 900s on at&t. Let's say they sell 900,000 of the 920 which I think is highly unrealistic considering most who like WP just bought the 900. Either way, the 8x will easily outsell that since it's on tmobile, at&t, and Verizon. The common man isn't going to switch carriers for a windows phone. It just won't happen.

But I'm not just talking about the US. I'm talking about worldwide. And Nokia will easily outsell the 8X worldwide. True fact?


You sir need to learn that USA is not the center of the world