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According to Simon Lee-Smith, Telefonica’s Euro chief, those Nokia Lumia 800s are too damn expensive. That’s why the network won’t be selling Nokia’s first Windows phones, adding that they’ll have to be cheaper to get a look-in.
Talking to Telecoms.com, Lee-Smith, who overseas Telefonica’s regional carriers of which O2 is one, said:
“If Nokia wants to sell in volume, they need to bring out devices which are cost-competitive”
“[Their premium devices] are not yet at the right price point”
The Lumia 800 is going to be available at around £450 SIM-free, with Vodafone, Orange and Three already lined up to carry it from free on a £31 per month contract. Lee-Smith went on to say:
“All device manufacturers seem to think that a €400-plus device is the norm. Well, it isn’t. Customers and operators won’t pay that cost for a device which doesn’t differentiate sufficiently.”
Nokia has said that the Lumia 710 and 800 are the first of a series of Nokia Windows Phone 7 devices, with more on their way in the next six months or so. Perhaps we’ll see some cheaper entries coming along, but with the flagship pricing of most manufacturers sitting between £400 and £500, it’s hardly surprising that Nokia’s priced the Lumia 800 up at £450.
It’s always been better value to buy the phone off network and then just pay for the service, not subsidise the phone with your contract, essentially like high purchase. If you’re an O2 customer and want to stick with them, that’s precisely what you’ll have to do. Cheaper flagship phones can only be a good thing for consumers however; but I have to think that O2 might be shooting themselves in a foot by not taking the Lumia on, and it’s certainly bad news for Nokia’s Windows Phone revival. [Telecoms via TNW]
I have to agree that the Nokia windows phones don’t have much to distinguish them from other windows phones and lets be honest, those aren’t exactly flying off the shelves right now.
I would argue that price, as long as the networks subsidise it, isn’t that much of a differentiator for a flagship phone. Of course it makes a difference if you’re buying them unsubbed, but when they’re all available for free on the same contract, not sure it factors into the decision. Not that I’m complaining mind you. The cheaper the better as far as I’m concerned as I buy em off network.
Yet they sell the iPhone 4S which is pretty pricey?
Surely if they price it up people can vote with their wallets as to whether it’s worth the price or not?
The iPhone justifies its premium price with very high desirability. No other phone has managed that and Nokia are starting from the bottom again.
It is being priced at the same point as the SGS2 and Sensation and has nothing to distinguish it.
He’s got it bang on the money. Nokia aren’t in a position in the smart phone market to start pushing for the premium prices of an iPhone or an S2. I wouldn’t be surprised if the previous smartphones from Nokia were heavily pushed by O2 and didn’t sell well, hence why they’re using their head instead of backing an unknown horse.
It needs to become the best of the Windows Phones in order to win that category over before challenging for smart phone supremacy. I look at the HTC Radar and Samsung Omnia W and i see competitive phones in that market, some noticeable differences in spec, but the price difference between them and the 800 could justify people going for the traditional smartphone brands of HTC & Samsung.
Nokia should have gone in with a competitive price to begin with, a £299 retail price point would get people buying the product. Lets face it, Nokia needs people to get into their smartphone eco system. I don’t doubt for a second that the product is fantastic, the probable scenario is that the product prices a lot of people out there & they’ll go for an S2 or an iPhone for an extra £50.
Must agree with Simon Lee-Smith. All manufacturers are pricing top-end phones out of the market. Computer prices are falling back so why do manufacturers assume consumers will carry on paying well over the odds for smartphones. Was thinking of buying New Nokia until pricing was revealed. Will be staying with my Samsung Galaxy S until prices fall considerably.
You can get this phone free for £26 a month with unlimited texts and 750 mb….isn’t that expensive for a flagship phone now is it :L
But you can get an SGS2, Sensation, Titan, etc, etc for the same money
Iphone’s a tad more expensive though
I worked for Orange for a year and £31 isn’t to big of an issue for most, when they see what it can do then see “I Phone 4 Free from £41″ they don’t need to think about it. (This isn’t based on the Lumia obviously but others like Desire S, Samsung Omnia etc. I just think O2 have little faith in the product.
Give it a 8mp rear facing, 2mp front facing, dual core, 4.3 oled+, removable battery, SD card slot, Android and 1GB of ram and I’d one one…. oh wait I just described the far superior GS2!
yeah you’re hilarious.
No one needs a front facing 8mp camera…..it doesn’t need a dual core as it runs fine on single (due to it being refined and optimised not just bunged on with a processor good enough to run it), 4.3″ …..whatever, removable battery…get over it…SD card slot….get over that too, Android…..yeah good one, 1GB of RAM….doesn’t need it.
Yes you just described a TOTALLY DIFFERENT PHONE! Would you prefer ALL phones were the same??
What a retard….iPhones are sold for crazy money…..most people don’t seem to understand that the iPhone is actually a toy…and without it’s appstore it would be nothing (in fact it IS already nothing)