Analysis: 330K Lumia phones sold in the US
updated 01:10 pm EDT, Sun July 15, 2012
Nokia trails HTC and Samsung in Windows Phone
Nokia and Microsoft haven't been forthcoming on the number of Lumia handsets that have sold since the line's debut, but a new analysis puts that figure at around 330,000 over four months. An analyst at Asymco has examined recent market breakdowns from both Nielsen and comScore to derive the figure, finding that Nokia's handsets trail HTC and Samsung even in the sliver of the market occupied by Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system.
The handset market is overwhelmingly dominated by Google's Android and Apple's iOS at 51 and 34 percent market share, respectively. In third place is BlackBerry OS with nine percent. The Windows Phone OS that powers the Lumia line holds 1.3 percent share, putting it in fifth place behind Windows Mobile.
Nokia's Lumia phones account for about 0.3 percent of all handsets sold in the United States. Using comScore's total market figure of 110 million smartphones sold, that amounts to about 330,000 Lumia devices in the hands of consumers.
Asymco's analysis lends weight to Nokia shareholder complaints that the company has been underperforming in the face of increased competition from Apple and other manufacturers. Once dominant in the mobile sector, Nokia has fallen on hard times, and is said to be making a big bet on Microsoft's forthcoming Windows Phone 8 operating system, with multiple models featuring novel technologies said to be in the offing. Should that platform not perform to expectations, though, company officials have assured shareholders that Nokia has a backup plan.
