Will Nokia finally be aggressive with US carriers?

[Mitlov]

With WP8, it's do-or-die time for Nokia. Unfortunately, their efforts in the US were severely hampered by relying solely on AT&T for the Lumia 900 and T-Mobile for the Lumia 710. No Verizon, no Sprint, no US Cellular, no other carriers. And contrary to what some OEMs seem to believe, many people will not change carriers just to get certain hardware.

So can we expect either the Lumia 920 or Lumia 820 on every carrier that is going to support WP8 (i.e., everyone but Sprint)? Can us US Cellular folks at least expect the 820, if not the 920?

To ask it slightly differently, was there any legitimate business reason for keeping the Lumia 900 just on AT&T (as opposed to the Galaxy S3 being on every carrier)? If so, does that business reason still apply to the WP8 lineup?

 

[thed]

With WP8, it's do-or-die time for Nokia. Unfortunately, their efforts in the US were severely hampered by relying solely on AT&T for the Lumia 900 and T-Mobile for the Lumia 710. No Verizon, no Sprint, no US Cellular, no other carriers. And contrary to what some OEMs seem to believe, many people will not change carriers just to get certain hardware.

So can we expect either the Lumia 920 or Lumia 820 on every carrier that is going to support WP8 (i.e., everyone but Sprint)? Can us US Cellular folks at least expect the 820, if not the 920?

To ask it slightly differently, was there any legitimate business reason for keeping the Lumia 900 just on AT&T (as opposed to the Galaxy S3 being on every carrier)? If so, does that business reason still apply to the WP8 lineup?

I think the idea was that AT&T would help promote the L900 in exchange for the exclusivity, but I don't think they sold enough units to make it worth the money they spent on advertising. The problem is that AT&T is only like 30% of the US market. Hopefully they learned their lesson this time around. You know what they say about the definition of insanity.

 

[GoodThings2Life]

I hope they will promote the **** out of both models. And I'll be honest... I'd love it if they bypass the exclusives entirely and go for both models on all carriers that are willing to take it. If they want to promote from within, go with incentives at the stores just like they did the 900 and AT&T.

 

[Mitlov]

I hope they will promote the **** out of both models. And I'll be honest... I'd love it if they bypass the exclusives entirely and go for both models on all carriers that are willing to take it. If they want to promote from within, go with incentives at the stores just like they did the 900 and AT&T.

If they want promotion, they would be wise to pay attention to smaller carriers like T-Mobile and US Cellular. Verizon and AT&T are top dog already, so they can be complacent, AND they have a track record of pushing potential customers toward the iPhone or, in Verizon's case, the Motorola Droid line.

Smaller carriers can't afford to be complacent. T-Mobile is aggressive as **** with advertising, and if you live somewhere where US Cellular is strong (like Oregon), you can't turn on the radio or open a newspaper without seeing their ads. And because they don't have the iPhone or as many Android flagships, they will promote the **** out of what they do have to counteract the impression that they only have second-tier phones. I have not seen a single other carrier push the Galaxy S3 as hard as US Cellular does. Why? It's US Cellular's only honest-to-God flagship-quality device right now. If US Cellular had the Lumia 920, I don't doubt for a second they would push it equally hard.

 

[odin09]

If Nokia only offers the 820 to Verizon customers I think they will be doomed. From the looks of it Verizon will have the flagship Samsung and HTC phones but only midlevel Nokia. Verizon is powerful for a reason... They offer the best service!

Sent from my mwp6985 using Board Express

 

[Reflexx]

A lot of people get low-mid level devices.

Androids biggest market share is from the low-mid range.

While us enthusiasts want the flagship, a majority of people want something cheap.

If the 820 is on Verizon, and is $49 $99 with contract, I think it could be pretty competitive.

 

[Mitlov]

A lot of people get low-mid level devices.

Androids biggest market share is from the low-mid range.

While us enthusiasts want the flagship, a majority of people want something cheap.

If the 820 is on Verizon, and is $49 $99 with contract, I think it could be pretty competitive.

But without the halo device, people won't notice or care about the OS. You need both--the flagship phone in your lineup to get people interested, and the mid-range device with 2/3s of people end up buying to save money.

Samsung may sell a lot of lower-end devices, but people wouldn't be looking at Android in the first place if the Galaxy S2 and S3 weren't out there in sufficient numbers to create a "halo."

 

[jeremyshaw]

If it has an AT&T logo anywhere on the phone, I'm not buying it. Factory unlocked only. I'm done with how AT&T screws with everything on android, but not ever releasing major os updates (yet still pushing their useless adware in their latest update a month ago to my htc inspire), and to a lesser extent baking crap (AT&T startup logo, AT&T favorites in Internet explorer) that cannot be removed into windows phone 7. And the stuff you can remove? Comes back every time I reset (quite a bit, because of work).

 

[Reflexx]

As long as at least one OEM puts a halo device on Verizon, it will be good.

They'll see the 820 as the budget alternative to the Ativ or whatever halo device HTC brings.

 

[PG2G]

But without the halo device, people won't notice or care about the OS. You need both--the flagship phone in your lineup to get people interested, and the mid-range device with 2/3s of people end up buying to save money.

Samsung may sell a lot of lower-end devices, but people wouldn't be looking at Android in the first place if the Galaxy S2 and S3 weren't out there in sufficient numbers to create a "halo."

A halo device doesn't even have to be on that specific carrier to be effective. A customer will see an add for an AT&T Lumia 920, wander into Verizon and ask if they carry it. They tell them no, but we have the Lumia 822. Same effect...

 

[scottcraft]

I certainly won't buy an 820. If Verizon doesn't carry a top WP I won't be getting one. I really want the 920, but I'm willing to check out the offerings from Samsung and HTC.

 

[Kredrian]

It has to come from the carriers, it not like Nokia just calls up Verizon and says "Your going to carry this phone." The carrier tells Nokia or whomever that they will carry a particular device. Its a no brainer for a device they know they can sell, but one they are skeptical about is a whole different matter, hence why there were so few offerings on carriers like Verizon and Sprint up to this point.

If any carrier provides multiple WP8 devices, that would be a sign that they are confident WP8 can sell.

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

 

[snowmutt]

They will be on all of them... including Sprint. They will jump on the bandwagon before Summer so as not to look behind the competition. (Just a prediction.)

Nokia will be everywhere, and will have follow up devices everywhere as well. They are going with a sense of urgency.

 

[jimski]

It has to come from the carriers, it not like Nokia just calls up Verizon and says "Your going to carry this phone." The carrier tells Nokia or whomever that they will carry a particular device. Its a no brainer for a device they know they can sell, but one they are skeptical about is a whole different matter, hence why there were so few offerings on carriers like Verizon and Sprint up to this point. .

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

Took the words right out of my thumbs. Just a guess, but I bet you lunch that Nokia would love to have every one of their phones offered by every carrier. Just like Home Depot decides which cordless drills they are going to offer, Carriers have the final say in which phones they are going to put on their shelves. Carrying a phone costs money, for inventory, training, display material, marketing, etc. If a Carrier thinks (or can be convinced) that a particular phone can close deals (contracts) they will jump on it. For them, it's all about making money. Nothing personal.

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express Pro

 

[Mr. MacPhisto]

The thing is that the carriers want some kind of exclusive. It may not be the phone as a whole, but something involving the phone.

Something that struck me about the showing of the 920 and the 820 were that both were shown with a red backing. Do we think it any accident that the Lumia 900 was featured in cyan (blue)? I could be reading too much into this, but it seems to me that the prominence of the red, especially with the 920, indicates that Verizon will have both the 820 and the 920 available - and probably will get the "Verizon Red" versions as exclusives.

While my Trophy is not red on the outside, the battery and back compartment are. I actually would not be surprised if we see each carrier get a different color. AT&T may get the yellow as a changeup. AT&T may also get the gray. Not sure if T-Mobile will even get the 920.

I keep hearing that VZW will have at least four total WP8 devices for launch and may have up to five. The Samsung is supposed to be a go. HTC may be providing two devices and same for Nokia. The word continues to be that VZW plans to do for WP8 what they did for Android.

I still hope that MS, Nokia, etc do something to encourage switching - maybe comping equivalent paid apps or a $10-20 credit in Windows Phone Store for switchers from Android and iOS.

 

[brmiller1976]

Judging from the Everything Everywhere exclusivity news, it seems Nokia's sticking with circa-2007 smartphone marketing (i.e. the "carrier exclusive.")

Samsung has proven that a single (non-Apple) phone model can sell VERY well on every carrier without the need for excessive carrier "customizations" that increase cost and reduce utility.

Today, every carrier has something to set it apart other than the device. Verizon has their big coverage map. AT&T has rollover minutes and international GSM roaming. T-Mobile has fast unlimited data for cheap. And Sprint has... ummm... well, unlimited data and WiMax (and more rural coverage than T-Mobile).

Hopefully Samsung and HTC will get all their WP devices on all the carriers without exclusives or "carrier-specific" versions. I'd bet the ATIV S will be on every carrier without any variation other than the supporting radio tech, given Samsung's success with the S III.

 

[12Danny123]

Judging from the Everything Everywhere exclusivity news, it seems Nokia's sticking with circa-2007 smartphone marketing (i.e. the "carrier exclusive.")

Samsung has proven that a single (non-Apple) phone model can sell VERY well on every carrier without the need for excessive carrier "customizations" that increase cost and reduce utility.

Today, every carrier has something to set it apart other than the device. Verizon has their big coverage map. AT&T has rollover minutes and international GSM roaming. T-Mobile has fast unlimited data for cheap. And Sprint has... ummm... well, unlimited data and WiMax (and more rural coverage than T-Mobile).

Hopefully Samsung and HTC will get all their WP devices on all the carriers without exclusives or "carrier-specific" versions. I'd bet the ATIV S will be on every carrier without any variation other than the supporting radio tech, given Samsung's success with the S III.

While I do think the Ativ S will be the most popular Wp in the US. but worldwide.. it's a different story. Nokia will dominate worldwide. Also I do think Samsung will advertise the phone heavily

 

[SnailUK]

Judging from the Everything Everywhere exclusivity news, it seems Nokia's sticking with circa-2007 smartphone marketing (i.e. the "carrier exclusive.")

Depends how you look at it.

WP has not been very popular at all so far, and thus i doubt any carriers are actually that fussed about WP8 (regardless of which phone).

I would wager Microsoft and Nokia are throwing money around to get carriers excited by their phones. Do Microsoft just throw money at every carrier, and none bother to promote WP8, or do they target specfic carriers, so the carrier promotes WP8.

 

[AngryNil]

Quite possibly the first time in a long while that they can advertise without the feeling that there is no substance behind the claims. Symbian devices were bad, MeeGo devices were DOA, and Mango devices were underpowered and ultimately underwhelming.

 

[cgk]

What leverage does Nokia have to get 'aggressive' with carriers? None as far as I can see.