Nokia Lumia sales fail to light up mobile phone market

Despite the support of Microsoft, Nokia has a mountain to climb if its latest venture into the smartphone market - its Lumia 800 - is to survive in the demanding world of Smartphone innovation and sales.

Designed to turn around the fortunes of Nokia, the Lumia 800 is reported to have received disappointing initial sales. A sample of UK mobile phone sales for November 2011 obtained by mobile phone price comparison site Mobilesplease show that the Lumia 800 is struggling with only a 0.17% market share (see table).

*Statistics based on sample of 5,377 UK mobile phones sold online across major UK retailers and networks in November 2011.

Critics have pointed to a range of difficulties experienced by the Lumia including a very limited battery life, poor software functionality and a high retail price.

There might be one ray of light for the Lumia though. The sales statistics are a sample and are based on consumer sales. Some experts predict that given Microsoft’s reputation in enterprise environments, the phone (which is heavily wedded to Microsoft) might have penetrated the business market with more success. With the Apple and Android app marketplaces being predominately geared towards consumer apps it could be that Microsoft's Windows Phone marketplace starts to grow into the de facto platform for business users and that Nokia help them to do this.

As far as December 2011 is concerned, the indications are that the Nokia Lumia 800 has improved its sales performance by doubling its market share but according to sample statistics it still stands at below 1% which must be short of where Nokia would probably like to see it.

Given its sluggish start, it is far from clear whether the Nokia Lumia 800 has what it takes to revive the Nokia brand and return the sleeping giant to anything like it’s past dominance.

For further details and for other mobile phone sales statistics please contact marketing [at] Mobilesplease.co.uk