The Lumia 900 was the darling of CES. It wasn’t just a darling, it gave Windows Phone the proverbial shot in the arm that the languishing OS needed. With its introduction at the Las Vegas trade show, the people salivating over its polycarbonate, single piece engineering probably would have muddied the sandy dunes and dry hills surrounding the site of the show. It was the hero phone. A savior. A new beginning. It swung the pendulum back into the sails of Microsoft’s troubled OS.
And yet, its momentum might be dead in the water before it even arrives.
And the one to throttle that tide of success could be Nokia itself.
With a probable March release date for the AT&T bound Lumia 900, the excitement by fans of Nokia and Windows Phone to get their hands on this bad boy might be tapered by rumors of another high-end Nokia device appearing at this year’s Mobile World Congress…in February. Having a month between MWC and the release of the Lumia 900 might be the biggest detriment to the success of the 4.3-inch screen device. If a new Nokia phone does exist and it appears at MWC, then what sort of momentum will it carry over after its reveal, and how much does it kill the 900′s honeymoon period?
The Problem With Timeliness
Here in lies the problem if such a device does exist. Nokia could be competing with itself in the high-end smartphone market. In some regard, they need MWC to promote their devices to the public. A big trade show like MWC is a required stop, if only to drum up support and word-of-mouth amongst the various tech sites and magazines. It’s almost a given that Nokia and Microsoft would be there. However, why have such a huge gap between the announcement of the Lumia 900 and its release when you have another important trade show in the middle of that gap?
The timing of it seems way off. It feels like the payoff, or the release of the Lumia 900, is diluted by the two month gestation period. The time wasted in between is being filled by the other companies, those with Windows Phone devices of their own or with other operating systems. Nokia and Microsoft need the spotlight, and it’s quickly being siphoned off by the competition during this period. We have had several different reveals, most notably from an Android perspective, with Sony’s Arc series and the continuation of Samsung’s Galaxy line of phones.
In the public eye, there had to be a better time than March to release the 900 before the competition descended on its slowly decomposing hype.
The best bet would have been for a mid-February release date on AT&T’s network. The need to hit the nail on the head, specially with the significant chatter and adoration that the 900 attained at CES, would have been ideal two weeks after the reveal. Having a good CES and having the phone available within weeks of the trade show would have created the sort of tempo needed to create a buzz for the next line of Nokia smartphone that we are now hearing about.
The problem now is how does Nokia keep enough focus on the 900 after any sort of reveal of the next, new wonderful device to come out of Espoo? It feels too cannibalistic, too ill planned to have this sort of overlap happen when, by all means, Nokia and Microsoft have to work like clockwork to create that supposed “rolling thunder” approach that will make a dent on that marketshare.
Goodness me!
What Of AT&T?
Whatever Nokia decided to do with the Lumia 900, we must not forget AT&T’s involvement in the matter. How they viewed the flagship Windows Phone device and what they have in the pipeline within the timeframe we are in the midst of is needed to know what sort of decision was made to have a March 18 release date pinned on the calendar. For all we know, it was AT&T’s choice to have the phone come out in March. It could also be a matter of Nokia’s ability to manufacture enough devices to the supposed demand they might encounter.
With that in mind, it puts Nokia in a tough spot. If it was AT&T’s choice, then Nokia has no choice in the matter and they had to bite the bullet and proceed at the timeframe given. If it was Nokia’s inability to deliver large enough quantities of the 900 in time for a quick turnaround after CES, then AT&T has to wait for enough shipment.
With the promise that MWC holds in regards to Nokia’s next big thing, how does that affect relationships with AT&T, the only true carrier that has embraced Windows Phone in a big way?
The implications aren’t pretty.
For one, Nokia could reveal something that is better than the Lumia 900. If true, why would AT&T want to give the Lumia 900 a chance if something better would be revealed in late February? For another, if Nokia reveals something more interesting than the 900, and AT&T didn’t know about it and another carrier has it, how quickly will that relationship between Microsoft, Nokia and Ma Belle destabilize? Having a phone more capable than the Lumia 900 could potentially throttle any customer’s desire to own it, and quickly shift their purchase to wherever carrier the next Nokia phone lands on.
That isn’t good business.
On the flip side, if something is revealed and it is carried by AT&T, then there could be a good set of phones available for customers by the carrier at almost every price point. With the rumors of a $99 pricetag on the 900, a big reveal by Nokia at MWC of something more high-end could give AT&T something to offer at the desired $199+ price point. Yet, it could sink the Lumia 900′s appeal, in which case all the hoopla surrounding the device’s debut at CES will be all for naught.
With such high stakes of the success of the Finnish company, having such risky marketing practices could potentially eat the momentum right out of Nokia’s sails. Mobile World Congress will address some of the questions posed here, but one thing is for certain, Nokia and Microsoft must learn the tempo of timeliness in order to sustain a proactive market share upward trajectory.
Anything else is time wasted.
