I'm sure I"m not the only one feeling like the 950s are stopgaps that were carried over from the original Nokia designs. It's been a really long time since the last flagship (I'm still rocking a 920) and people were obviously fed up with the lack of a new device and the minuscule userbase would have shrunk even further if we didn't get something...
It was no mistake that the 950's lack CDMA bands. Yes, it will absolutely shrink the userbase in the US further, but it will also keep costs down. It also keeps the european userbase, which is actually growing, happy. Basically it will let the platform exist at a relatively low cost.
Meanwhile, the surface team can create a surface branded phone(or a lumia created by the surface team) and the software bridges can be completed. The software bridges will then be released and the app ecosystem will fill out slowly but surely.
The next phone will almost certainly support CDMA but I wouldn't expect any leaks( a la Surfacebook) and I doubt it'll come out before the software bridges are released.
Don't get me wrong, the 950s seem like great phones and I will most likely be buying one to replace my 920, but this is the only logical reasoning I can see in regards to the 950s.
TLDR -
It was no mistake that the 950's lack CDMA bands. Yes, it will absolutely shrink the userbase in the US further, but it will also keep costs down. It also keeps the european userbase, which is actually growing, happy. Basically it will let the platform exist at a relatively low cost.
Meanwhile, the surface team can create a surface branded phone(or a lumia created by the surface team) and the software bridges can be completed. The software bridges will then be released and the app ecosystem will fill out slowly but surely.
The next phone will almost certainly support CDMA but I wouldn't expect any leaks( a la Surfacebook) and I doubt it'll come out before the software bridges are released.
Don't get me wrong, the 950s seem like great phones and I will most likely be buying one to replace my 920, but this is the only logical reasoning I can see in regards to the 950s.
TLDR -
- The 950s are stopgaps
- They concentrate on markets that are actually doing well put the US market on further life support
- A phone designed 100% by the Surface team is probably in the works but we won't see leaks much like the Surfacebook
- The bridge software projects (Islandwood and Astoria) will probably be released within the next year well before a surface phone is announced and the app ecosystem will fill out
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