It Costs $450 In Marketing To Make Someone Buy a $49 Nokia Lumia 363
benfrog writes "According to market-share estimations compared to marketing dollars, it costs nearly ten times as much to sell the Windows Phone-based Nokia Lumia as it does to buy one. Other analysts agree with the low sales numbers."
Re:Subsidized price (Score:5, Informative)
OS LIMITATIONS
1. No true multitasking for 3rd party apps - they re frozen in the background.
2. No Divx/Xvid video codec support. Zune will convert with loss of quality.
3. No mass storage mode.
4. No micro-SD card support.
5. Only support up to 16GB storage .
6. No filemanager. Directory system is totally opaque.
7. Need Zune to transfer files. Zune will only transfer photos, videos & music. All other files need to email/upload to yourself.
8. Your contact details are automatically uploaded to cloud service whether you like it or not.
9. Limited to 800x480 resolution.
10. Voice search is hardwired to Bing.
11. Cannot use any MP3 file as ringtone except those with strict constraints.
12. Cannot set static IP address so no connection to ad-hoc networks.
13. No VPN support for this âoecorporate enterpriseâ phone.
14. Cannot sync directly with Outlook without syncing to Cloud
15. Totally closed OS, cannot sideload apps outside MS Marketplace.
16. System font size cannot be changed.
17. Images and photos cannot be renamed in the phone.
18. Windows Live ID account cannot change country once set.
19. No centralized notification page.
20. Alarm clock cannot work when phone is turned off. All Nokia Symbian and Meego phones can do this.
21. The idle screen is completely blank and cannot display time or notifications.
22. Only photos allowed as email attachments, documents not allowed.
23. No way to stream audio to the majority of car audio systems as the most common Bluetooth rSAP profile is not implemented.
24. Cannot stream audio from video playback to Bluetooth devices as A2DP profile is not implemented.
25. No support for full on-device encryption required for secure applications like mobile banking and online payment.
26. Cannot use Bluetooth keyboard (no HID profile)
27. Cannot silence ringtone or alarm by flipping the phone.
28. Very limited customization option.
29. Cannot be upgraded to WP8 (Apollo)
USABILITY ISSUES
30. No always visible status bar for battery life, signal strength, carrier ID, 2G/3G wi-fi, Bluetooth on.
31. Taskmanager has no option to shut down apps you donâ(TM)t want running in the background.
32. Search and Back button cannot be de-activated in apps or games and easily touched by accident which interrupt your user experience.
33. Lockscreen need to be activated to show missed call/sms notification.
34. No way to close an app except pressing back button all the way to the first screen.
35. Tiny fonts in messages is very hard to read for those over 45.
36. Cannot create and save playlists on the phone.
37. Playlist can only be edited when you are playing it.
38. Cannot search your music collection on the phone, only in the Marketplace.
39. Cannot close music player, can only pause. Music player on lockscreen will stay until you reboot. Be careful not to touch it in a meeting.
40. No draggable progress bar for current track playing and no indication which track in an album is currently playing
41. Cannot lock screen orientation.
42. Online and phone contacts are mixed together with no ability to filter.
43. Search button in dialer does not search contacts for dialing, but search call history.
44. Cannot save draft sms messages.
45. Call history only show phone number type. If a contact has multiple phone nos. fo
Re:Subsidized price (Score:0, Informative)
Re:Subsidized price (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Subsidized price (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Unfortunately, Nokia has no Steve Jobs (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I Wish (Score:2, Informative)
Mine did.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_C1-01 [wikipedia.org]
No contract. SIM phone. Basically it's a really really good clock-radio, with a decent mp3 player, a useful electronic calendar etc etc etc, that just happens to include an okay phone too when I want to spend $10 for 30 days of Fido airtime.
The camera's a bit of joke by modern standards, but it's actually good enough for 'make a note of that' shots.
And yup... this is exactly the type of /excellent/ cheap phone that Nokia made their rep on so you'd buy Nokia when you upgrade, and that they're now cancelling. Full facepalm.
Re:Unfortunately, Nokia has no Steve Jobs (Score:5, Informative)
They have been officially in process of abandoning symbian since 2011 or so, and it will officially end in total abandonment in 2016. In reality, symbian has been largely abandoned marketing wise back in 2011 along with the catastrophic "platform burning" memo which made sales go from "increasing by about 5% yearly" to "total collapse" overnight.
Linux smartphone is 100% abandoned. Meego has been abandoned before N9 was even properly out, with team developing it long disbanded. N9 is no longer manufactured and they're just selling the rest of the stock. There has been virtually no marketing push behind N9 either. Fun trivia: it still outsold all lumia phones to date.
Dumb phones are still going, but how long they will last is anyone's guess. Elop has finally gotten around to axing meltemi dev team (linux based dumbphone OS), which means that nokia essentially has no OS for dumbphones past 2016, when it's supposed to fully abandon symbian. WP is unsuitable for dumbphones due to both hardware requirements and software pricing, and Elop's clear main goal is to make nokia into a 100% WP OEM and nothing more. That makes dumbphone division future into a very big question mark.
Re:Subsidized price (Score:3, Informative)
You are either a class A shill or you don't even own a Windows Phone at all. Most of what you are saying is false is actually true and a lot of your other points are just making excuses for what the OP is criticising. That's weak sauce and if you actually give a shit about windows phone, maybe you should face the facts of its shortcomings instead of trying to lie your way through.
Disclaimer: HD7 owner.
Re:Subsidized price (Score:1, Informative)
Er, would it make you feel any better if the summary said it costs 450 dollars to make people pay the upfront cost of $49 for a Nokia Lumia? The point still stands. Windows Phone 7 is a failure. People have been calling it since the beginning yet the fanboys kept saying wait 'til NoDo, wait 'til mango, wait 'til Nokia, wait 'til Lumia 900, blah blah blah. It failed. Accept it. And it failed for quite a few reasons. Here, I'll list them. All of them.
OS LIMITATIONS
1. No true multitasking for 3rd party apps - they re frozen in the background.
So what? It's a phone. I don't understand the desire to run 30 apps at once, one a phone.
2. No Divx/Xvid video codec support. Zune will convert with loss of quality.
I've never once watched a movie on my phone and expected amazing quality, it's a mobile device with a 4.3" screen, it's not going to be immersive no matter what the codec used is.
3. No mass storage mode.
Yep, same can be said about iPhone....
4. No micro-SD card support.
Yep, same can be said about iPhone...
5. Only support up to 16GB storage .
Yep, same can be said about iPhone (depending on the device chosen, it can also be said iPhone only supports 8GB...)
6. No filemanager. Directory system is totally opaque.
Yep, same can be said about iPhone (noticing a trend yet?)
7. Need Zune to transfer files. Zune will only transfer photos, videos & music. All other files need to email/upload to yourself.
Yep, sounds like iTunes...
8. Your contact details are automatically uploaded to cloud service whether you like it or not.
Wrong, this can be disabled. I don't have a single contact stored in the cloud on my LG Optimus Quantum. It's actually never had a data features used, 3G or WiFi.
9. Limited to 800x480 resolution.
Yep, for now, and I admit this is a pain.
10. Voice search is hardwired to Bing.
Yep, and it still works better than Siri if you live outside of the US.
11. Cannot use any MP3 file as ringtone except those with strict constraints.
Damn, I won't sound like a douche when my phone rings. Defaults ring tones aren't a bad thing.
12. Cannot set static IP address so no connection to ad-hoc networks.
I haven't used an ad-hoc network in a decade. Does this really matter?
13. No VPN support for this âoecorporate enterpriseâ phone.
WP7 had been aimed at the consumer market since day one, make up your mind about what matters more, consumer or corporate. My corporate BlackBerry has ringtones locked to a single tone (Classic Phone I think it is called, and I can't change it. I'm fine with it.)
14. Cannot sync directly with Outlook without syncing to Cloud
Just like BlackBerry and Android or iOS, using either BES or Exchange ActiveSync
15. Totally closed OS, cannot sideload apps outside MS Marketplace.
Again, sounds a lot like an iPhone and iTunes....
16. System font size cannot be changed.
Mild pain in the ass, I have never felt the need to change it, it's not like my BB where the font is too small to read by default.
17. Images and photos cannot be renamed in the phone.
Sounds (again) like my iPhone, which I admit I haven't used for a while.
18. Windows Live ID account cannot change country once set.
Can your gmail account for Android be region changed? I honestly do not know.
19. No centralized notification page.
THANK GOD. I don't want every thing in one place. Discrete notifications are one of my favorite features.
20. Alarm clock cannot work when phone is turned off. All Nokia Symbian and Meego phones can do this.
Symbian is dying and starting to smell bad. Meego was D
Re:Subsidized price (Score:2, Informative)
Damn, dude, yes I am seeing a trend in hour comment and it isn't what you are thinking. The trend is excuse...excuse...excuse...finger pointing...excuse...excuse...finger pointing...
This is why I can't stand windows phone fans. You people won't own up to the failings of your platform of choice you just make continual excuses. Guess what bub, that don't sell phones. Windows Phone 7 failed. Even MS knows this so they are changing the kernel and significantly tweaking the interface. Its over, man. Accept it.
Re:Unfortunately, Nokia has no Steve Jobs (Score:5, Informative)
how long they will last is anyone's guess
As long as there are developing countries one would imagine. The Nokia 1100 is the world's best selling phone. 250 million 1100's have been sold since its launch in late 2003. Nokia has recently come up with a replacement the Nokia 110 (that I'm really hoping to get a hold of).
I have a GSM smart phone. It does tricks like check my e-mail and weather. But the other 90% of the time I'm just carrying the 1100. The battery on standby lasts a week give or take. If It gets dropped I don't worry about the screen cracking. And if I'm ever mugged I can always bludgeon the mugger with it.
Re:Subsidized price (Score:3, Informative)
Heineken in bars in Belgium, let alone Heineken-only bars? Where was that?
In Belgium, bars serve beer. That means no Heineken.
Re:Windows Phone needs a hook (Score:4, Informative)
That doesn't even begin to make sense. The very first Android phone had a physical keyboard!
So if you want to look for hooks, that most certainly is not it. I suspect there is none.
Re:Unfortunately, Nokia has no Steve Jobs (Score:4, Informative)
If Yang would have sold Yahoo to Microsoft, Microsoft would be in even worse condition AND Yahoo's shareholders would have been thrilled.