Too Many Lumia Phones From MS?

[trainplane]

I believe part of the reason MS might not release a high end phone this in 2014 is because their teams are stretched too thinly to support all the Lumia phones coming out. 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000 (and all their variants) series? Just do a low, middle, and high. That's it. Many of the OEMs will actually cover a good portion of the low and middle and you won't see many high end Windows Phones outside of MS. HTC might do one (W8, a few months late M8) but Samsung, LG, and Sony don't seem to want to put out a high end WP. Samsung quietly put out an upgraded S4 in 2014. So it's really up to MS to cover the high end.

If MS puts some of their smartest engineers and designers on a high end phone, they might be able to come out with some revolutionary feature that people might find useful (not 3D touch).

 

[ven07]

I, however, do think that we will get more high-end phones The whole strategy with the low and mid end devices is so that others have a stepping stone into WP.. MS isn't just targeting the US market, but also the emerging markets and most of those people will never be able to afford a high-end phone.. I can honestly say that im willing to wait untill MS releases their own high-end device instead of opting for one of the OEM's

 

[xandros9]

I like their current lineup, it pretty much covers the market.

 

[C LaBelle]

I completely agree with this idea. With all the Windows phones on the market, while it covers many budget ranges it is confusing and hard to keep up with the latest phone. One of the key ideals with Apple and Android is their users can feel like they have the latest and greatest phone. Having that feeling for 8 months to a year makes them feel like an "elite" group, it's a social class thing. When you have new phones dropping every month or two such as on WP their users don't get to experience that "latest and greatest" feeling for very long. It's very much a psychological thing however I think it plays an important role in users choice of phone.

 

[Harry Wild]

It is still unclear as to what Microsoft will do with the Icon/930 when Verizon's exclusivity runs out usually in 6 months contract! Will Microsoft do the usual, sign other carriers like AT&T and/or T-Mobile to sell the Icon/930? Or will Microsoft sell it on their website "unlocked" with all the GSM radio included; instead a limited band model that keeps users models tied to U.S. carrier only. I love to see Microsoft try to sell the 930 model that is unlocked like the unlocked iPhone and Google Nexus Google Play unlocked models on the web store.

But knowing Microsoft/Nokia; it will be business as usual the 920 will be - locked and exclusively tied to bands of the licensed U.S. carrier.

 

[rodan01]

What's wrong with the 930? The 930 is the flagship.

 

[trainplane]

930/Icon is a flagship but remember it was an early 2014 flagship and even then that was late in the game since many phones with the SD 800/1080p screens had been released months prior.

In late 2014/early 2015, there will be no Lumia flagship if the rumors are true. In fact, if you are in the US and are on AT&T or Sprint or T-Mobile, your latest normal sized "flagship" phone is a phone with 2012 specs. Where would Samsung or Apple be if their latest phone being sold in late 2014 is still the S3 and iPhone 5?

If MS/Nokia wasn't busy releasing 7 phones and 15 variants (920, 925 928, etc) each year, they might be able to focus on 3-4 really good phones for each tier. Especially now with Nokia being much smaller after the layoffs, they can't stretch themselves too thinly or quality could suffer.

 

[rodan01]

The only difference between the 930 and the Galaxy S5 or the HTC One M8 is Snapdragon 800 vs Snapdragon 801, not a big deal.

The problem is that US carriers demand exclusive devices to invest in advertising, so Microsoft can't use the 930 with the other carriers.

I think AT&T could have the 1030 before the holidays.

 

[Great deal]

I personally think MS will drop the Lumia brand. Its long in the tooth and is a Nokia product and MS no doubt wants to cut that link. It is also associated (correctly or incorrectly) with devices that are always lower spec than the competition. MS have built up a strong brand under the name of Surface. They are supporting it and its getting better and better with each release. Apple have their iPhone, Google have their Nexus, MS will have the Surface. Surface Phone just makes sense from every angle.

 

[Svoboda]

What's wrong with the 930? The 930 is the flagship.

Availability.

I'm on AT&T and I purchased 3 920s the day they were available. Well, my 2 year contract comes up in November and I literally have nothing to move to. The only Nokia items offered right now by AT&T are the L925, L1020 and the L1520. For those of us that don't want larger phones, we're pretty much stuck with the 925 and that is a downgrade (IMO) to the 920 just due to the decreased storage and lack of polarizing filter alone. I'm also not someone that can shell out cash to buy 3 full price phones at one time so buying unlocked 930s isn't an option, either.

 

[Svoboda]

I personally think MS will drop the Lumia brand. Its long in the tooth and is a Nokia product and MS no doubt wants to cut that link. It is also associated (correctly or incorrectly) with devices that are always lower spec than the competition. MS have built up a strong brand under the name of Surface. They are supporting it and its getting better and better with each release. Apple have their iPhone, Google have their Nexus, MS will have the Surface. Surface Phone just makes sense from every angle.

When I think Surface, phones don't even come to mind. They'll have quite the uphill battle marketing the name IMO.

 

[mohit9206]

MS releasing too many variants of the same phone reminds me of what HTC used to do and see what happened to them.They confused the hell out of buyers so much that they altogether ignored HTC phones.Samsung and MS are doing the same thing now.

 

[wuiyang]

MS releasing too many variants of the same phone reminds me of what HTC used to do and see what happened to them.They confused the hell out of buyers so much that they altogether ignored HTC phones.Samsung and MS are doing the same thing now.

really? it is using number to compare which one is cheaper or which one is expensive and better. i dont see any problem with it

 

[Ultimate Insider]

for every segments, ms need to have 2-3 phones.
1st segment: Low-end: Lumia 530-630-635
2nd segment: Mid-end: Lumia 730-830 (will be announced)
3rd segment: High-end: Lumia 930-1030-1525/1530

They just need to make windows phone with latest processors and resolutions to be able to in race with other oems.

 

[loofmodnar]

When you look at it they've basically got 4 ranges of phones.

5XX/6XX - Budget
7XX/8XX - Mid Range
9XX/1XXX - High End
15XX - Phablet (god, I hate that term)

I'm sure they'd love to reduce the number of variations but between carriers wanting exclusive versions and different features targeting different markets (dual-sim, different networks, etc) they need to keep creating the variants.

Even Apple is moving towards more versions of the iPhone (4S, 5C, 5S), they're trickier and accomplish it by selling the old models as the mid-range and mostly ignoring the budget segment all together. They're also in a better position where carriers just want the iPhone and don't care about an exclusive version.

 

[roni09riku]

When you look at it they've basically got 4 ranges of phones.

15XX - Phablet (god, I hate that term)

I hate that term too. haha

 

[Sniper1087]

While I agree with keeping it simple they need to have 1 Phone, 1 phablet, 1 mid range, 1 low end. For me the high end phone should be the new iteration of the 1020, 1 upgraded version of the 1520 for the phablet of course, the upgraded version of the 820 for the mid range, and the 630 for the low end. At least I think every carrier should have the high end phone and phablet to show more brand recognition.

 

[colinkiama]

When you look at it they've basically got 4 ranges of phones.

5XX/6XX - Budget
7XX/8XX - Mid Range
9XX/1XXX - High End
15XX - Phablet (god, I hate that term)

I'm sure they'd love to reduce the number of variations but between carriers wanting exclusive versions and different features targeting different markets (dual-sim, different networks, etc) they need to keep creating the variants.

Even Apple is moving towards more versions of the iPhone (4S, 5C, 5S), they're trickier and accomplish it by selling the old models as the mid-range and mostly ignoring the budget segment all together. They're also in a better position where carriers just want the iPhone and don't care about an exclusive version.

its funny how the 5c is actually just a plastic 5c. People think it's soooo original but they actually ripped off the idea from the lumia 620. Now people are saying the 630 is a rip off of the 5c. Oh the Irony.

 

[MarCou]

For me it seems like Nokia/MS switched also first modelnumbers to successors.
530 wasn't 520s successor, it was asha/X-serie successor with WP.
So 630/635 is 520s successor.
930 is 820s successor. (No Carl Zeiss). They putted it out first, cos it should look like a new flagship. *clever*
1030 will probably have Carl Zeiss, like 920...
Look the specs and prizes for example 930 and 820 when it became to market and do the math.

Posted via Windows Phone Central App

 

[wuiyang]

how nokia separate their phone entry:
X2X = windows phone 8, X3X = windows phone 8.1, no love for lumia 810
Low end = 5XX, 6XX
Mid range = 7XX, 8XX
High end = 9XX, 10XX
Big phone(or Phablet [what the hell? it is not tablet at all..]) = 1XXX (except 10XX, we will wait for 1030 for confirmation)