Since the 920 came out I have been thinking about why Nokia put the "Carl Zeiss" words on the ceramic next to the camera on the 920 as opposed to "Nokia" like on their international variants of the 920. When the Lumia 900 came out in April I figured they just put it on to highlight that aspect of the phone (makes sense). Later when the international 900s were shipped they had the traditional "Nokia" on the back. This was obviously also true of the 920 when it launched both in the US and internationally.
As I have thought more about this, I wonder if it has something to do with US carriers tendency to ruin the look of a phone by putting their logo all over it. Verizon is especially bad at this. When I look at most smartphones it seems like wherever there is a branding for a phone such as HTC or Samsung, the carrier will usually put their own branding somewhere close by. I have been thinking that Nokia has been putting Carl Zeiss on their US phones instead of Nokia so carriers would not ruin the aesthetics of the phone by putting their branding on the back side of the phone. I assume that carriers would have a more difficult time justifying branding a phone if the manufacture's brand is not close by. If you look at the HTC 8X there is an HTC logo on the back which is always accompanied by either T-Mobile, Verizon, or the AT&T globe. There is obviously no such branding on the back of the 920. It seems to me like AT&T would have been more likely to put their brand on the back of the Lumia 920 if Nokia's branding was clear and visible on the back of the phone. Since Nokia's branding is on the front of the phone you also see the AT&T globe.
Obviously this is just a theory but it makes sense to me. It seems to me that Nokia sacrificed some of their own brand visibility for the sake of maintaining the integrity of the clean and pure design language of the 920. Let me know if you think I am way off on my theory or if it makes sense to you. It just seems curious to me that the US version of the 920 is the only one that has "Carl Zeiss" prominently labeled in large text rather than "Nokia" in the back.
None of this is true for the iPhone obviously, but I think that is more of a reflection of Apples incredible negotiating power compared to other phone companies. (Don't think for a minute that Verizon would not brand the heck out of the iPhone if they could get away with it.)
Edit: I know that in about all of the international versions of the 920 it says "Carl Zeiss" in small text with the "Nokia" in larger text, but in the US there is no "Nokia" anywhere on the back, just "Carl Zeiss" in large print.
As I have thought more about this, I wonder if it has something to do with US carriers tendency to ruin the look of a phone by putting their logo all over it. Verizon is especially bad at this. When I look at most smartphones it seems like wherever there is a branding for a phone such as HTC or Samsung, the carrier will usually put their own branding somewhere close by. I have been thinking that Nokia has been putting Carl Zeiss on their US phones instead of Nokia so carriers would not ruin the aesthetics of the phone by putting their branding on the back side of the phone. I assume that carriers would have a more difficult time justifying branding a phone if the manufacture's brand is not close by. If you look at the HTC 8X there is an HTC logo on the back which is always accompanied by either T-Mobile, Verizon, or the AT&T globe. There is obviously no such branding on the back of the 920. It seems to me like AT&T would have been more likely to put their brand on the back of the Lumia 920 if Nokia's branding was clear and visible on the back of the phone. Since Nokia's branding is on the front of the phone you also see the AT&T globe.
Obviously this is just a theory but it makes sense to me. It seems to me that Nokia sacrificed some of their own brand visibility for the sake of maintaining the integrity of the clean and pure design language of the 920. Let me know if you think I am way off on my theory or if it makes sense to you. It just seems curious to me that the US version of the 920 is the only one that has "Carl Zeiss" prominently labeled in large text rather than "Nokia" in the back.
None of this is true for the iPhone obviously, but I think that is more of a reflection of Apples incredible negotiating power compared to other phone companies. (Don't think for a minute that Verizon would not brand the heck out of the iPhone if they could get away with it.)
Edit: I know that in about all of the international versions of the 920 it says "Carl Zeiss" in small text with the "Nokia" in larger text, but in the US there is no "Nokia" anywhere on the back, just "Carl Zeiss" in large print.
Last edited:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram