Nokia posts disappointing Lumia sales

I was seriously considering getting a Lumia 1020 purely because of the camera, which gets rave reviews everywhere.<p>I was even willing to abandon Android and put up with the Windows OS. But unfortunately, to buy it unlocked would cost $600, and the only carrier that was subsidizing it was AT&amp;T, which I have sworn off.<p>In the end, I got a Samsung S4 Zoom. Its camera is second only to the Lumia, it&#x27;s got a great xenon flash, I get to stick with Android, it cost only about $350 unlocked, and it works on a GSM network MVNO, so my cellphone bill ends up being $40&#x2F;mo., instead of $85&#x2F;mo. on AT&amp;T.

Not too surprising; outside HN comments I have yet to find anyone actually liking these phones here (in the EU). Most people I know who have one (including me) like the hardware but not the software and they don&#x27;t like the hardware enough to not get an iPhone or Android. I tried to like it but it&#x27;s gathering dust only to be swept off when a client wants to order an app for it from us. After that it goes into the drawer again.<p>From non tech people I usually hear complaints about it still just not working all too well (annoying to hook up to computers, not being able to easily put movies and music on them compared to android&#x2F;ios, no worthwhile apps compared, random crashes).<p>Like said; the only positive things I hear about it are raving HN&#x27;ers here or MS employees on Facebook.

On Windows Phone, one thing that I like a lot is Nokia&#x27;s HERE suite (maps and turn-by-turn navigation). Free and really good. The hardware is good and the OS is nice too. One thing I was impressed is that it seems actually easier to develop for Windows Phone than for iOS or Android.

Here&#x27;s a better article, although in Finnish <a href="http://www.hs.fi/talous/Nokian+puhelinihme+p%C3%A4%C3%A4ttyi+loppuvuonna+romahdukseen/a1390459401484?ref=hs-art-top-3" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.hs.fi&#x2F;talous&#x2F;Nokian+puhelinihme+p%C3%A4%C3%A4ttyi...</a><p>I&#x27;m not completely surprised at the results. I&#x27;ve tried to be an advocate, but Microsoft&#x27;s slow development cycle along with lack of apps frustrates me more and more. No Venmo, Uber, Lyft or almost any other new and useful app that comes out. The camera is still pretty great, but alone it&#x27;s just not enough to get a Lumia at the moment.

Lumia 928 owner and I love my phone, for me the OS&#x2F;HW is great. To me, it feels like a lot of the dissatisfaction centers around the fact that WP is an MS product. Of course there are things that could be enhanced or done better but compared with my past experience with iOS and Android, WP is tops for me. That being said, it is a beautiful thing to have choice so more power to the iOS and Android users. Get in where you fit in!

I am a bit confused by this, the author actually edited the numbers ( &quot;Nokia has confirmed it sold 8.2 million Lumias in Q4&quot; ) which is the double of 2012.<p>How is that &quot;disappointing&quot;?

I think porting my app to WP would be quite fun. I like C#&#x2F;.NET, I like VS. What I don&#x27;t like is Windows 8. I&#x27;m not willing to install Windows 8 just so that I can develop an app for a small number of users.<p>Surely MS would help themselves by letting Windows 7 users develop for WP? Their ecosystem is small but their development platform is, in my eyes, the nicest of the bunch. The bulk of the various mobile app stores are filled with apps developed as a hobby, and requiring Windows 8 is a huge hurdle for a hobbyist.

&quot; tluyben2 41 minutes ago | link<p>Not too surprising; outside HN comments I have yet to find anyone actually liking these phones here (in the EU). Most people I know who have one (including me) like the hardware but not the software and they don&#x27;t like the hardware enough to not get an iPhone or Android. I tried to like it but it&#x27;s gathering dust only to be swept off when a client wants to order an app for it from us. After that it goes into the drawer again.&quot;<p>Nokia 928 is an amazing phone and Windows 8 phone is really smooth. An article on HN yesterday talked about the rise of these phones in specific markets one them being Europe. Most people I know that actually own one really like it and think its much better than Android. Obviously the previous comment is just an opinion and not fact.

I like the design language Microsoft came up with for Windows Phone. So I bought a Nokia Lumia phone. I quickly regretted it. This was before Windows Phone 8 was released but we were promised &quot;many of the features&quot; with Windows Phone 7.8. I waited, and waited, and waited. Eventually I was told that they had changed their minds and Windows Phone 7.8 wouldn&#x27;t even be coming to my particular phone.<p>Windows Phone 7 is missing a lot of very basic features. It&#x27;s time consuming and frustrating using it even for the most basic tasks. The web browser is terrible. It lacks most popular 3rd-party services and apps. And the camera seems to be programmed to take out-of-focus photos.<p>I will never buy another Nokia phone, or Windows Phone, again. They had their chance.

My ex-neighbour is &#x27;high&#x27; up in Nokia and I can remember having a conversation about how the Lumia would make a fantastic Android phone. I think he mentioned in passing that there was a team that briefly looked into making an Nokia Android phone, but this was killed off before the Microsoft buyout.<p>It&#x27;s one of those phones I would buy immediately if they did an Android version. It&#x27;s a very very nice piece of kit (in particular the camera) but if it doesn&#x27;t run the apps you use on a daily basis, you are not going to touch it with a barge pole.<p>Unfortunately this will never happen. Microsoft would, in effect, be admitting their mobile platform is a dead end.

I said it at the time: &quot;Two mobile-losers&#x27; getting together doesn&#x27;t automatically make a winner&quot;. It&#x27;s still the case. When you go beyond hard-core Nokia fans and MS fans, who buys Lumia?

I am rather sure that having so many phones exclusive to ATT is not helping their cause. I would call that sandbagging the numbers to have 1 phone (928), 2 &quot;Nokia Generations&quot; of releases behind on the largest (BY FAR) smartphone provider in the USA (Verizon). Lumia 929 has been FCC approved since November, WHERE IS IT? The holy grail 1020 still exclusive to ATT, if the numbers are so disappointing put a CDMA radio in it and SELL IT!

The dubious comfort in the mobile phone market is that when you&#x27;re weak, there&#x27;s always someone doing much worse still.<p>While Nokia managed to sell 8.2 million Lumias last quarter, Blackberry sold only 1.1 million BB10 devices in the same timeframe. The old brands have certainly fallen quick and hard.

Not surprising at all.<p>Nokia should have move to Android 5 years ago when Samsung did.

Very poor article. Hopefully we get some better analysis from Asymco or someone else.

But aren&#x27;t they selling like gangbusters in Europe?