Analysts happy with the Nokia Lumia 925
Analysts happy with the Nokia Lumia 925
With Nokia’s share price on a roller coaster ride, and dropping on the same day as the announcement of the Nokia Lumia 925, it would be interesting to hear if the analysts felt Nokia has done enough with the device to keep sales and revenue up. 
It seems they were largely satisfied. IDC research director John Delaney was impressed with the imaging capability of the slim handset.
“These are impressive phones that compare strongly with other devices in their class. Strikingly, ads for the devices explicitly put them toe-to-toe with Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy S on low-light image capture. Nokia has been reluctant in the past to mention competitors, let alone to criticise them. But having developed an extremely strong imaging proposition comprising both hardware and software, if Nokia is going to start a battle then it has probably made the smartest choice of battleground available.
Besides differentiating in the camera space, he thought Nokia explicitly taking charge of updates for their handsets would also set it apart from other Windows Phone OEMs.
“From now on, the Nokia-exclusive elements of the Lumia software will be released regularly in alpahabetically-named packages. The first of these, Amber, ships with the 925. This could prove to be an important source of differentiation in the future, if HTC continues to expand its range of Windows 8 devices and if other OEMs commit substantially to Windows 8. The updates should be well received by customers if each new release brings such clear new benefits as the ones in the Amber release.
“However, Nokia must be careful about communicating its story around software releases, especially to the developer community. The releases are about new functionality, not developer APIs – but it wouldn’t take much to raise suspicions about fragmentation of the platform.”
uSwitch.com telecoms expert Ernest Doku said the Lumia 925 is the smartphone that Nokia fans have been waiting for as it addresses the criticisms made towards the Lumia 920.
“This is the one that true Nokia fans have been waiting for. Addressing all of the critical concerns levelled at the Lumia 920, the 925 is lighter, smarter and made of sterner stuff, thanks to its aluminum frame. The marriage of technical expertise in mobile imaging with a gorgeous piece of hardware shows that the Finnish manufacturer still has fire in its belly.
However, Doku warned that Nokia must broaden services like HERE Maps and Mix Radio to give consumers reasons to switch platforms.
“However, the battle is no longer in just having the flashiest phone. The megapixel wars are over, and consumers are looking for apps and software that make life easier. Windows Phone is slowly gaining traction – largely via the Lumia range and positive word of mouth – but is still a small fraction of the smartphone market.
“Nokia would genuinely benefit from also broadening its unique services – the likes of Here Maps and Mix Radio – to give those on the fence a real reason to switch.”