If there is one controversial area in regards to the stellar Nokia Lumia 1020, it would be its price. In the face of deals elsewhere like on Amazon.com, the $299 contract price is traditionally higher than most flagship devices in 2013. At least that’s the perception, even if erroneous. It’s a bit dishonest when tech sites focus on that subject since the AT&T 32GB iPhone 5 sells for the same $299 (and the 32GB Galaxy S4 runs for $249).
Last we checked, neither come with a groundbreaking 41MP camera.
Some could argue that the Lumia 1020 has no right to command the same price as the iPhone 5, but that seems a little pretentious for our tastes. Still, there’s a feeling in the air that the Lumia 1020 is not selling well or making much of an impact.
We of course don’t actually know what Nokia or AT&T have for sales projections of the device, so whether or not it’s a disappointment or success is simply conjecture at this time. Even with AT&T experimenting with price drops, we can’t take that as a sign of anything except isolated market testing.
Nevertheless, some new data from AdDuplex, who runs advertising on Windows Phone, appears to show that the Nokia Lumia 1020 is selling as well, if not better, than the Verizon Nokia Lumia 928. That device launched just three months ago on the massive US carrier for $99, making a comparison to the Lumia 1020 on AT&T quite germane.
Data from AdDuplex is broken down into weeks and shows a representation of that device on their ad network. Three weeks of data are covered and while exact numbers aren’t revealed, you can see the trend with the Lumia 1020 scaling higher than the Lumia 928 during its first three weeks of availability.
Currently, the Lumia 928 commands about 5% of the Windows Phone market in the US after three months (the Lumia 920 has 16% after seven), and as far as we know, no one is suggesting that device is a flop.
Alan Mendelevich, who wrote up the AdDuplex data, notes that their data “…weren’t adjusted according to our own growth (more apps on the network, etc.) so the results are probably slightly skewed in the 1020s favor”. While that may be true, seeing as only three months have passed between the two launches and the positive trend for the Lumia 1020, it’s safe to say that’s it is far from “doom and gloom” like a few in the tech world are intimating.
In our opinion, the Nokia Lumia 1020’s success will be one of long term perception in the smartphone world. Specifically that Nokia will be seen as a serious player who can still offer innovative new technology to consumers, despite their “underdog” status. The real sales for Nokia will be in volume with devices like the Lumia 520.
To put it another way, the Lumia 1020 brings the headlines, but the Lumia 520 brings the people.
You can read some of the rest of our write up on the AdDuplex numbers in our earlier report.
Source: AdDuplex Blog
