New Evidence About Why Windows Phone Is Doomed In America - Forbes
After spasms of enthusiasm about Nokia 920 selling out last November at Amazon and Nokia 521 selling out at Walmart and HSN HSNI -1.38% last May, there is now another exciting sell-out news. The fantastic camera phone 1020 has sold out immediately at AT&T! Dampening excitement about this development is the fact that we now know why Nokia models keep selling out within an hour or two in the US market across a wide range of retailers. It?s because the shipments are tiny, not because the demand is hot. In the meanwhile, the carriers are placing massive initial orders for vendors like Apple AAPL -1.58% and Samsung, guaranteeing them massive marketing support for months.
The combination of the long string of 920, 521 and 1020 sell-outs in the US market and Nokia?s 2Q 2013 shipment data has only one possible explanation. The US retail partners from AT&T and Verizon to Walmart and HSN are placing exceptionally small launch orders. They have zero faith in American consumer demand for Windows smartphones. That is why we keep seeing instant sell-outs of new models followed by long stretches of models being out of stock ? which in turn damage sales. Retail partners refuse to stock up in fear of getting stuck with inventory. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Agree? Disagree? Sound off!
After spasms of enthusiasm about Nokia 920 selling out last November at Amazon and Nokia 521 selling out at Walmart and HSN HSNI -1.38% last May, there is now another exciting sell-out news. The fantastic camera phone 1020 has sold out immediately at AT&T! Dampening excitement about this development is the fact that we now know why Nokia models keep selling out within an hour or two in the US market across a wide range of retailers. It?s because the shipments are tiny, not because the demand is hot. In the meanwhile, the carriers are placing massive initial orders for vendors like Apple AAPL -1.58% and Samsung, guaranteeing them massive marketing support for months.
The combination of the long string of 920, 521 and 1020 sell-outs in the US market and Nokia?s 2Q 2013 shipment data has only one possible explanation. The US retail partners from AT&T and Verizon to Walmart and HSN are placing exceptionally small launch orders. They have zero faith in American consumer demand for Windows smartphones. That is why we keep seeing instant sell-outs of new models followed by long stretches of models being out of stock ? which in turn damage sales. Retail partners refuse to stock up in fear of getting stuck with inventory. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Agree? Disagree? Sound off!