We know Nokia has had a tough ride, especially since they ditched Symbian to pair up with Microsoft and dedicate resources to Windows Phone alone. Not only shares, but the minds of customers, have been bouncing around, following Stephen Elop's moves closely. The manufacturer has had little over six months to produce a Windows Phone since the partnership with Microsoft was announced.
According to a report over at Reuters, Nokia is attempting to keep the smiles with releasing an optimistic statement:
"Lumia 800 sales in the U.K. are off to an excellent start. Based on earliest data the sales start of the Lumia 800 is the best ever first week of Nokia smartphone sales in the U.K. in recent history. By our measures, we have gained significant smartphone sell-out share in the channels in which we are operating in the U.K."
As noted by Gigaom, the above statement is pretty vague and with no sale data published it's difficult to tell whether the company is actually doing extremely well with the launch or is attempting to liven the mood.. Were we really expecting a massive sell out? Probably not. Windows Phone is still young and requires much promotion to sway the minds of potential adopters. Nokia has come to the game with nothing and have spent erratically to pick up momentum for not only the Lumia family of handsets, but the platform as well. It's a tough assignment for a manufacturer who has been in trouble for some time.
Nokia has been busy focusing on "The Amazing Everyday" marketing campaign, with hosting impressive promotion events, setting up advertising effectively (including Heathrow Airport) and working closely with U.K. carriers. As we previously reported, the Finnish manufacturer has tripled their marketing expenditure, which should be setting the ground for their volume introduction of handsets in 2012.
The Lumia 710 and 800 (our review) are entry handsets, the first two from the Finnish company. They've continuously stated that 2012 will be the year for both Nokia and Windows Phone, while 2011 will see one or two devices to see the year through and show what Nokia is capable of. A turnaround that Nokia requires will not happen with the launch of two rushed devices on a new platform. This is going to be a marathon, just like Microsoft with Windows Phone. We'll have to wait and see how the two companies work together to make both the platform and Nokia handsets a success on a global scale.
