Nokia to do "Exciting things with Verizon" says Stephen Elop

Honestabebread

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I've also heard a lot about how pleased Verizon is with Nokia. I hope for more phones in the future. I went with the 8X for both my personal and work phone and I couldn't be happier. Just a beautiful phone and I'd pay $200 all day for it, even though my work phone was free and the employee edition 8X is only $100.

Either way, when I can upgrade in July, it'll be hard for me to pick an HTC if some of these rumors are true. A flagship Nokia would win me over, but it has to be as svelte as the 8X or else it's a no go.

Also, a baby blue 822 is in the pipeline and should launch any time now.
 

Mr. MacPhisto

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I've also heard a lot about how pleased Verizon is with Nokia. I hope for more phones in the future. I went with the 8X for both my personal and work phone and I couldn't be happier. Just a beautiful phone and I'd pay $200 all day for it, even though my work phone was free and the employee edition 8X is only $100.

Either way, when I can upgrade in July, it'll be hard for me to pick an HTC if some of these rumors are true. A flagship Nokia would win me over, but it has to be as svelte as the 8X or else it's a no go.

Also, a baby blue 822 is in the pipeline and should launch any time now.

I definitely understand the preference for the 8X. Many were disappointed with the lack of the 920 on VZW, but I think Verizon managed to have a good selection between the two phones. I think they cater to different audiences.

I do think that the 822 is the worst looker of the WP8 handsets, but it just goes to show how good every single WP8 device is at launch.

I know Verizon wants HTC to succeed too. My contact has said his bosses had hoped to carry three devices from Nokia and HTC each by spring and two Samsungs - so Verizon has wanted to carry eight WP8 handsets. That's shy of the 20+ they offer currently on Android, but that's way beyond the one they had for WP7.

I've also heard that they want to cut back a little on their Android offerings and streamline things a bit more. They are not too happy with LG overall and may only keep the upper end with them.

The plan, as I understand it, is to have the Samsung and Nokia low end phones (Marco and 622) in the free or cheap category - they may do the 622 for $29.99 just because the looks may cause people to spend $30 on it over the Samsung. But the planners at VZW believe that Windows Phone is a much better entry level smartphone with a lower learning curve for first timers and they want to push as many of their users onto smartphones and LTE as possible.

I have heard that the HTC Zenith may be back on. Verizon is still trying to get them to make a version of the 8S for them with LTE. They were hoping for the 8S to be free or cheap with contract, to move the 8X down to $99, and to have the Zenith at $199. Same three tiers for Nokia. Samsung would just have the low-end and high-end, though they have asked for a mid-range Samsung as well like the Galaxy Nexus.

It just seems to me that Verizon wants more than what they have in WP8 and are disappointed with all the phone makers on some level. HTC for not delivering the 8S and not at least making a larger internal storage model of the 8X available. Samsung for not delivering on time. Nokia for going exclusive last second and eliminating the Verizon 920 variant. Nokia has smoothed things out a bit more and made Verizon much happier with them, especially after showing them the low end and high end options.
 

hopmedic

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MacPhisto, you just keep making me happier and happier that I put that Nokia stock in my Roth this past summer..... :grin:
 

odin09

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MacPhisto... Any regrets on getting the 822 with a possible 822 HD coming or flagship Nokia? I am hoping this info is good. I am due for a new phone in May and can't wait to see what my Nokia choices are!
 

Mr. MacPhisto

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MacPhisto... Any regrets on getting the 822 with a possible 822 HD coming or flagship Nokia? I am hoping this info is good. I am due for a new phone in May and can't wait to see what my Nokia choices are!
No regrets. The phone is fantastic, but I could not have waited and would have pulled the trigger at some point, especially with family having the 822. I'll get the latest and greatest on my next upgrade.

Not sure I want anything other than Nokia right now. The app support is incredible. Never seen a phone mmanufacturer back up their phone like Nokia has so far.
 

Booston

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I just ordered the gray 822 today. Was waiting to see the Samsung Odyssey, but just couldn't wait as my iPhone is busted up and at the moment limping along.

The main reason was your recommendations and I love my sons Nokia apps on his 920. Unfortunately my work only pays for Verizon. The good news is I can upgrade again in a year if I need to, so I will get the latest next fall :)
 

Mr. MacPhisto

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I just ordered the gray 822 today. Was waiting to see the Samsung Odyssey, but just couldn't wait as my iPhone is busted up and at the moment limping along.

The main reason was your recommendations and I love my sons Nokia apps on his 920. Unfortunately my work only pays for Verizon. The good news is I can upgrade again in a year if I need to, so I will get the latest next fall :)

No pressure. ;)

I hope you enjoy it. I have family with the black 822s and have spent some time with the white. I like my gray the best. It really is a nice look.
 

Ruined

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My fianc?e has the Nokia 822. It honestly is a spectacular phone... if you are picky you can kinda tell the screen is not HD (just a tad fuzzy) if you have used a 720p or better phone before, but I think 99% of people would not notice and love the screen; despite the low res, the large size and AMOLED makes it pop. That is about the only bad thing I can think of. Camera is amazing for a phone this cheap, it makes the camera on my HTC Trophy seem like a Fischer Price toy. It is one of the most solid phones I've ever held, in some ways probably is even more solid than the 920 as the screen is flat and thus not as vulnerable.
 

mythra

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I'm reading some exciting things about the 920 VZW variant in this thread and other similar threads. However, there are some things that aren't convincing. So far I've read that it will be slightly better spec wise (i.e. quad core, better camera) and might be available Easterish. And it was initially targeted for a Nov release but got pushed back because AT&T got an exclusive last moment. This argument doesn't make sense. For the sake of argument...let's say the two phones were different in specs (VZW better) to begin with, there was no exclusivity, and were released the same time on both carriers. Why would AT&T even put up with such a scenario? They would be absolutely mad. If it was going to be released the same time then the specs had to be comparable. Nokia is trying to keep both carriers happy and not piss off one and make the other happy.

If the specs are better on the VZW phone then it had to be planned to be released at a later date very early on. By design and not by some reactionary situation. The better phone has to come at a later date to follow the natural progression of technology upgrades. And there is no way that upon finding out about exclusivity VZW asked for a better spec phone and Nokia complied to appease them. It isn't enough time to develop and test the product.

Now, getting to the exclusivity... I don't think I've seen any official statement from AT&T or Nokia talking about the term of the exclusivity. All we have is an official statement saying it's exclusive. And then we have the leaked training video that talks about exclusivity being 6 months. It would be nice if someone can find and post an official statement of 6-month exclusivity. Assuming AT&T has a 6-month exclusive, AT&T would have planned for a certain amount of sales and commited to purchasing those units from Nokia. As pointed out by others, it would be higher volumes upfront and then slowing down. However, even the slowdown would have to be counted. If VZW somehow got their own better version out during the slowdown period then that would hurt AT&T sales. The whole point of exclusivity is to gain competitive advantage and increase revenue as a result of that. AT&T wouldn't agree to Nokia providing a better phone to VZW during that period. Even if there were legal workarounds with different model number series (i.e. 10xx) or specs, it wouldn't be good for AT&T/Nokia relationship long term. It might work this time around but big problems will ensue moving forward. Nokia needs both carriers to succeed so they will do what's fair.

Considering all this, here are my viewpoints:
- If VZW variant has better specs then it was always meant to come out at a later date.
- If AT&T does indeed have a 6-month exclusive then VZW version will come out in May.
- If it does come out at an earlier date then the exclusivity isn't really 6-months. Perhaps a 90-day one or an open-ended one.

Anyways, thanks to Mr. MacPhisto and Honestabebread for providing some insight and info that would otherwise be unavailable to us. Because of that info we can opine here...
 

Mr. MacPhisto

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I'm reading some exciting things about the 920 VZW variant in this thread and other similar threads. However, there are some things that aren't convincing. So far I've read that it will be slightly better spec wise (i.e. quad core, better camera) and might be available Easterish. And it was initially targeted for a Nov release but got pushed back because AT&T got an exclusive last moment. This argument doesn't make sense. For the sake of argument...let's say the two phones were different in specs (VZW better) to begin with, there was no exclusivity, and were released the same time on both carriers. Why would AT&T even put up with such a scenario? They would be absolutely mad. If it was going to be released the same time then the specs had to be comparable. Nokia is trying to keep both carriers happy and not piss off one and make the other happy.

If the specs are better on the VZW phone then it had to be planned to be released at a later date very early on. By design and not by some reactionary situation. The better phone has to come at a later date to follow the natural progression of technology upgrades. And there is no way that upon finding out about exclusivity VZW asked for a better spec phone and Nokia complied to appease them. It isn't enough time to develop and test the product.

Now, getting to the exclusivity... I don't think I've seen any official statement from AT&T or Nokia talking about the term of the exclusivity. All we have is an official statement saying it's exclusive. And then we have the leaked training video that talks about exclusivity being 6 months. It would be nice if someone can find and post an official statement of 6-month exclusivity. Assuming AT&T has a 6-month exclusive, AT&T would have planned for a certain amount of sales and commited to purchasing those units from Nokia. As pointed out by others, it would be higher volumes upfront and then slowing down. However, even the slowdown would have to be counted. If VZW somehow got their own better version out during the slowdown period then that would hurt AT&T sales. The whole point of exclusivity is to gain competitive advantage and increase revenue as a result of that. AT&T wouldn't agree to Nokia providing a better phone to VZW during that period. Even if there were legal workarounds with different model number series (i.e. 10xx) or specs, it wouldn't be good for AT&T/Nokia relationship long term. It might work this time around but big problems will ensue moving forward. Nokia needs both carriers to succeed so they will do what's fair.

Considering all this, here are my viewpoints:
- If VZW variant has better specs then it was always meant to come out at a later date.
- If AT&T does indeed have a 6-month exclusive then VZW version will come out in May.
- If it does come out at an earlier date then the exclusivity isn't really 6-months. Perhaps a 90-day one or an open-ended one.

Anyways, thanks to Mr. MacPhisto and Honestabebread for providing some insight and info that would otherwise be unavailable to us. Because of that info we can opine here...

That quad-core is not a 920 variant, but a different phone. I'm sure it will share some components, but the phone that had been expected to release in November on Verizon was a match for the 920 with a higher MP camera sensor and CDMA2000 support.

The quad-core will have a higher number and has always been slated for spring.
 

aximtreo

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I read this and thought how exciting it was going to be. Then I decided to sell my 822 and give the 920 on AT&T a try. I met the buyer last evening at the local Verizon store to make the activation changes. While this process was ongoing, I asked the young man helping us if they were selling many Windows Phones and his reply was "Not many, none of us in the store know much about them and it's a harder sell than Apple or Android."

I hope Elop's comment come true but Verizon needs to hire some middle age reps to interface with the middle age to older Verizon customers. I think that one older Rep in each store would increase interest in WP8 devices and do their older customers a good service by not selling them Android phones.

Just my 2Cents so ya'll start piling on for my insensitive comment about older customers.
 
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odin09

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Verizon has been pushing windows phones on their employees and management. As they use the devices I am sure they will become more knowledgeable. I have experienced mixed results at my local stores. Some push windows phone and some ignore it.
 

fusioncept

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I'm glad I stuck with Verizon. I love the direction WP is going and I'm glad Verizon is fully backing it.

Thanks MacPhisto for all the sweet info. I love my 822. It works so well.

Nokia WPs are the only option. The have the build and the features. I'm glad to see Samsung and HTC supporting, but Nokia has proven themselves once again to be quality.
 

Mr. MacPhisto

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I'm glad I stuck with Verizon. I love the direction WP is going and I'm glad Verizon is fully backing it.

Thanks MacPhisto for all the sweet info. I love my 822. It works so well.

Nokia WPs are the only option. The have the build and the features. I'm glad to see Samsung and HTC supporting, but Nokia has proven themselves once again to be quality.

Glad you're enjoying it. I'm also loving my 822.

I was one who wasn't too sure about Nokia when they announced for WP because they hadn't made any noise here in the States for a long time. I had a Nokia back when I was with Alltel and it was okay, but nothing special. I didn't like it as much as the Moto Startac I replaced with it. Now I don't know if I want anything other than Nokia. Great phones that are well built with tremendous app support running the greatest mobile OS on the planet.

And I think WP8 and Nokia will only get better at this point. It's just starting.
 

ryan.kruger

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I read this and thought how exciting it was going to be. Then I decided to sell my 822 and give the 920 on AT&T a try. I met the buyer last evening at the local Verizon store to make the activation changes. While this process was ongoing, I asked the young man helping us if they were selling many Windows Phones and his reply was "Not many, none of us in the store know much about them and it's a harder sell than Apple or Android."

I hope Elop's comment come true but Verizon needs to hire some middle age reps to interface with the middle age to older Verizon customers. I think that one older Rep in each store would increase interest in WP8 devices and do their older customers a good service by not selling them Android phones.

Just my 2Cents so ya'll start piling on for my insensitive comment about older customers.

I just think it's unnecessary to say that Verizon needs older reps to cater to older customers. I work for the enemy (Apple), and connect with people from any age range. The problem is, they aren't invested in windows phone sales. iOS and Android built a very large fan base, and now they sell themselves... Windows phone needs support, but not just for the older market.

You just need someone who tries to be a jack of all OSes. Can name the pros and cons of each, and let the phones sell themselves.
 

Mr. MacPhisto

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I just think it's unnecessary to say that Verizon needs older reps to cater to older customers. I work for the enemy (Apple), and connect with people from any age range. The problem is, they aren't invested in windows phone sales. iOS and Android built a very large fan base, and now they sell themselves... Windows phone needs support, but not just for the older market.

You just need someone who tries to be a jack of all OSes. Can name the pros and cons of each, and let the phones sell themselves.


Precisely. I think WP8 can be an easy sell if a few kinks are worked out. It certainly will catch the eye.
 

CHIP72

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Precisely. I think WP8 can be an easy sell if a few kinks are worked out. It certainly will catch the eye.

User adoption of Windows 8, particularly on tablets, touchscreen laptops, and convertible laptops/tablets will help a lot too. I've played around a lot with various touchscreen Windows 8 tablets and laptops a lot over the last week or so, and once people understand how the interface works and understand that a touch interface greatly enhances how a laptop form factor device can be used, I think people will strongly prefer that interface over non-touch, non-gesture, and non-live information interfaces. (Having said that, I will say that I think the Metro UI works better on a larger-screened device.) I haven't had a chance to use my own Windows 8 device yet, but from what I've seen and experienced, assuming Windows 8 runs smoothly most of the time like Windows 7 does, I think Windows 8 is an awesome, revolutionary product. I know I plan to buy a touchscreen Windows 8 laptop in the near future (most likely the Asus VivoBook X202E model), and I'm very excited about that.

Incidentally (for Mr. MacPhisto), thanks for the information on Verizon's upcoming Windows Phone 8 devices. I'm intrigued by the two current devices but I really want to see what high end devices come out from Samsung and especially Nokia (and I felt that way even before reading this thread). I've liked my HTC Trophy (and really liked the Metro live tiles) and outside of an e-mail problem I had about 2 months after I bought it, I thought it operated smoothly (not quite as smooth as the iPhone 4, but a lot more smooth than the two Android smartphones I've had, especially the comparable in age/when it was first released worldwide Droid 2). I'll probably hold off on buying a WP8 smartphone until a few more high-end devices come out; hopefully they'll be out soon.

P.S. In the meantime, I may buy an iPhone 5; I've been planning to buy both a WP8 device and an iPhone 5 in early 2013, though I was planning to buy the WP8 device first and I may now reverse the order of my purchases. Unlike a lot of people on WPCentral, I'm not really anti-Apple and I'm definitely not anti-iPhone; I genuinely like the iPhone 4 I have and think it works very well in general despite its age. I don't have an iPad or Mac though; even though I think Apple makes good products, I think the value to cost proposition for their products works for the iPhone but not for the iPad or Mac. I wish these tech websites that fawn all over Apple would incorporate price considerations into their reviews - sure, the iPad might be a technically excellent product, but unless you like playing tons and tons of app-based games on tablet, is the cost-value proposition there for the iPad at $500? I think not, not when you can buy a much cheaper product that has 90% of the core functionality (web-browsing) or a similar-priced product that offers greater functionality (access to solid word processing software, not to mention a keyboard that can function as an integrated unit with the tablet).

Sorry for the off-topic semi-rant at the end of my post.
 
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