While Nokia is doing great outside the united states (The way it should be, as it's the reason for Microsoft partnership with them), what they do in there doesn't affect me. I'm going to T-mobile and the 810 is hideous beyond belief, also they have an asking price of 99$-150$ for it, a bit expensive in my opinion.
While you might say the United State is just a sandbox compared to the rest of the world, is also the biggest market for smartphones right now. Nokia needs to get in right now if they want a good piece of the pie. They ignored the market for so long that people just associate them with the cheapest of cheap 10$ grocery store devices. Now they are trying to come back and they somewhat think they are the iphone? Exclusivity won't work with them, even if it's only 6 months, who will pay full price for a 6 month outdated phone?
How much do six months do? Well look at the One X and Galaxy S3 and compare them to the One X+ and Note 2. The second ones win time and time again. Now look at the HTC J Butterfly, that phone will be out in December on Japan. In specs absolutely destroys not only Nokia and all current Windows Phones but even top of the line Android devices.
Nokia isn't just competing with Windows Phone, they are playing against Android and IOS, which baffle me how they are getting aggressive against Samsung and HTC in their WP offerings and not in their Android ones.
Why do I'm harsher against Nokia? Because they are the ones betting fully on Windows Phone and so far haven't show me their best. They still release and heavily advertise the Asha line of device, they don't bring full 41mm pureview camera to Windows Phone. (people will say that phone is a niche product, but if it didn't had Symbian it will be a good alternative).
I hold Nokia to a higher standard than HTC and Samsung, I do voice against the bad things on HTC side but I'm going to be honest with you. If the HTC 8X/8S didn't existed, I would had nothing left to excite me for Windows Phone. I'm going to T-mobile and I wouldn't be caught dead with the 810.
Also is not fair to jump on the Nokia bandwagon and say they are the only truly innovative Windows Phone manufacturer, that's complete wrong.
HTC
HTC has the best Front Facing Camera on the market and is one of the features I'm most excited on WP8, it's wideangle lens means I can take good pictures of myself with my buddies and in front of monuments and other places, the quality of the FFC is also top notch, meaning the pictures are actually worth sharing. (A first on Windows Phone)
Super LCD 2 is still the best screen on the market for much people, and at 4.3 it has a really high DPI which means it will look beautifully crisp. (A first on Windows Phone)
Beats Audio is not to be ignored, the speaker sounds loudly and clear. And the music will sound as good as their Android counterpart. (A first on Windows Phone)
The 8X also has a dedicated camera ship, which means the camera will take pictures insanely fast, something that I personally will take great joy in it. As I lose my chance of great pictures because I scare some animal away.
Samsung
There's not much to say about samsung, the brought everything hardware wise that makes the Galaxy S3 great. (Features that people care about in general)
Super light
Super Thin
Beautiful
4.8 screen (A first on Windows Phone)
Super Amoled HD screen (A first on Windows Phone)
SD card slot
Removable battery (big battery also)
Why do you wildly proclaim they brought nothing to the tablet? The Lumia 920 has none of the features I mentioned them from their rivals. Is that's nothing new how come the 920 doesn't have it?
Because those aren't standard features, HTC and Samsung brought great devices with enough differentiation to swag people from Nokia.
Nokia shouldn't be barely competing against HTC and Samsung inferior to Android, Windows Phone counterparts, it should be shaking the industry up by making something that rivals and goes above their android offerings.
The Lumia 920 is not only not good enough to compete against Iphone/GS3 but in only one carrier, it doesn't have a chance.
I want Windows Phone to have a chance.