The Nokia Lumia 920 is the most high-profile phone that doesn’t run on iOS 6 or any of the many Android versions currently out in the market. Powered by the new smartphone OS from Microsoft, Windows Phone 8, it has managed to capture the people’s attention and could be Nokia and Microsoft’s ticket back to the smartphone limelight. But will people still bite once they find out that the Nokia Lumia 920 costs almost as much as the iPhone 5 or Samsung’s Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy S III?
Reports as to how much the Nokia Lumia 920 will actually cost are starting to trickle in. Based on our sources, it can go from anywhere between $700 to close to a thousand dollars without a contract. Sure, the Nokia Lumia 920 has some nice features such as the new Windows Phone 8 OS and the amazing PureView camera with Carl Zeiss optics but will these be enough to justify the premium price? Analysts don’t think so.
Ovum analyst Nick Dillon thinks that the Nokia Lumia 920 and Windows Phone 8 are untested commodities and people may not be so keen to grab one if it’s too expensive:
“Windows Phone is still largely an unknown to consumers – they would probably expect to pay less if they are taking a risk. Hardware-wise they are pretty similar [to the Samsung Galaxy S III] , it would be hard for Nokia to justify that extra cost to consumers.”
CCS Insight’s Ben Wood agrees and says that it may not end well for Nokia if they price the Lumia 920 above the Samsung Galaxy S III:
“Nokia will find it difficult to command a premium over Samsung’s Galaxy S3 which is the pricing benchmark for a non-Apple flagship smartphone.”
The Samsung Galaxy S III is selling for less than $700 dollars without a contract in most European countries and is still one of the best-featured phones in its class.
With the Nokia Lumia 920, the Finnish phone manufacturer and their partners at Microsoft have a chance to reclaim some of the ground they lost in the long-running smartphone wars. But in order for them to succeed, they need to make sure they have an amazing product at a price that people would be willing to buy. They’ve already got the “amazing product” part down, they just need to make sure they price the Nokia Lumia 920 right.
Agree? Disagree? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
[via The Economic Times]