What’s the logic behind Nokia’s launch schedule? (Rant)

Just a few days ago we saw the sales launch of the Lumia 925 in Germany. There isn’t much more to say about the 925 other than that it is an improved version of the 920. A good one in my eyes, after all it addresses quite a few ‘problems’ some smartphone buyers might have with the 920 like its weight and thickness.

Considering the significant improvements and arguable better visual design of the 925 one would assume that Nokia is trying to get it out into the market quickly and bolster up the still meagre sales numbers of their Windows Phone line up, right? Right?!?

Apparently that isn’t the case. It did go in on sale in Germany but just today I learned that its western neighbour, the Netherlands, will only see the 925 going on sale late this year. Late, as in late Q4! What’s up with that?

This the exact same thing that happened with the 920, first have it available in the US only and then launch it a few months later in some European countries and a few months after that in a few more. Of course, there were supply constraints and the hardware in the 920 was fairly new anyway so a staggered launch did seem to make sense. The 925 however is a warmed up version of the 920.

I understand why a company launches devices in a staggered fashion, it makes sense sometimes either from a financial standpoint (low stock and manufacture on a need basis) or from the standpoint of creating the ‘want factor’ for those who can’t get it yet. What I don’t get is these weird segmented areas. The 920 was available in France and Germany months before it was in Belgium and the Netherlands. Has Nokia somehow determined that Lumia’s aren’t being sold in the aforementioned countries? The Lumia 800 was available at launch in the Netherlands, but that wasn’t  a device to judge momentum or interest by. Only die hard Nokia fans or Windows Phone fans bought that.

Again, a staggered launch is understandable. But launching a device or product approximately 4-5 months later (to expected from info now available from Nokia) in a neighbouring country is insane and frankly beyond me. Especially when you consider the Netherlands having a very high smartphone adoption rate and a fairly high (smart)phone refresh rate.

So Nokia, what’s the theory behind this rather weird launch strategy? (Again)

Category: Nokia