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It Costs $450 In Marketing To Make Someone Buy a $49 Nokia Lumia

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."

29 of 363 comments (clear)

  1. Subsidized price by Google+Fanboy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nokia Lumia does not cost $49 to customers. It costs (and makes profit of) $49 + whatever mobile operators make during the two year contract. God americans are stupid if they still go for this marketing trick. Even Slashdot runs bullshit story like this!!

    On top of that Nokia is trying to capture US market, so they can spend more on it while they generate revenue from rest of the world.

    1. Re:Subsidized price by AgNO3 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Stop using logic, reasoning, and a basic understanding of marketing to confuse the issue. This is slashdot.

      --
      OMG Ponies!!! with Glitter!!!! I miss Pink :-(
    2. Re:Subsidized price by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, 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.

      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

    3. Re:Subsidized price by Thruen · · Score: 5, Informative

      Addendum: T-Mobile will offer a lower price if you bring your own phone. The carriers that matter still don't though.

    4. Re:Subsidized price by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually, they are all true. Furthermore, the GP was obviously specifically referring to Windows Phone 7 which is what the article is about. Please try to keep up.

    5. Re:Subsidized price by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      122. If S60+M[ae]e[mG]o strategy was a "burning platform" ... This platform is RADIOACTIVE, ON FIRE, and EXPLODING, bitchez!

      Elop stood on the burning deck, whence all but he had fled.
      The flame that lit Nokia's wreck shone round him o'er the dead.

      Yet horrible and grim he stood, as born to rule the storm;
      A creature of demonic blood, a proud, though troll-like form.

      The flames rolled on – he would not go without his Ballmer's word;
      That Ballmer, in Redmond below, his voice no longer heard.

      He called aloud "Say, Ballmer, say if yet my task is done?"
      He knew not that the stock-price lay yet twice the buyout one.

      (Okay, that last line descended to junior-high love-poem level of suck; I'll quit before it gets worse.)
      Seriously, just how much farther can MS possibly need to ruin Nokia before they buy them out and give Elop his bonus?

    6. Re:Subsidized price by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's fine then, i'll just wait until I can upgrade my Lumia to Windows Phone 8 ...

      Oh, wait ...

    7. Re:Subsidized price by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 4, Interesting

      What's *really* weird is that the iPhone has some of those same limitations and yet it is wildly successful ...

      I wonder what the key differences are ?

      (I already have an idea, just curious what the /. crowd thinks...)

    8. Re:Subsidized price by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      IPhone has first mover advantage. Windows phone is a me-too product. Also, people don't like Metro.

    9. Re:Subsidized price by NixieBunny · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Perhaps most of those limitations aren't really important to most people.

      --
      The determined Real Programmer can write Fortran programs in any language.
    10. Re:Subsidized price by Antonovich · · Score: 4, Interesting

      In the US. Here in France we now have competition. You know, that thing you are supposed to have in a free market? Before the three incumbents happily fixed prices and had to pay massive fines - not enough to get them to stop though. Now a fourth player (Free) has entered and true to their history, they have completely turned the market on its head. Overnight you got 20€/month contracts (unlimited national calling and to landlines in 40 countries, 3GB data with no usage restrictions - yes that means torrents! NO minimum period, 16€ if you get it with quad-play) with no phone supplied. Want a nice phone but can't afford to shell out 400-700€ in one go right now? Fine, get a 20€/month contract, put down 100-150€, and pay the rest per month over 12, 24 or 36 months (not everyone offers all options but most offer a few). It's completely honest - if you want to change provider that's fine, you just need to finish paying your interest-free loan in a lump sum. The other operators now offer similar deals - they had to. Say what you like about consumerist capitalism - if you want cheap, high quality communications then you need a truly free market and it will happen!

    11. Re:Subsidized price by oakgrove · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That list has 121 items on it and you took issue with thirty of them. Assuming you are 100 percent right, that still leaves 75 percent of what the OP said on the table...

      --
      The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
    12. Re:Subsidized price by grumbel · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What's *really* weird is that the iPhone has some of those same limitations and yet it is wildly successful ...

      The difference is that the iPhone got there first, so whatever problems remain, people learned to live with them. The whole trouble with the Windows Phone is that it's late to the party, so to actually be accepted it would need to be superior to the iPhone, not just on par, as just being on par won't make people switch. Why waste time learning a new phone OS when it has no advantage over the old one and still a lot of the same problems?

    13. Re:Subsidized price by Tridus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "Apple" is a positive brand. You attach it to something and the something gains percieved value.

      "Windows" and "Microsoft" are not positive brands. You attach "Windows" to something, and people immediately think of their home PC. That is not a good thing given how awful the average home PC is.

      There's also first mover advantage for the iPhone, things that people do care about like very high resolution displays & games, and Microsoft's well earned reputation for killing their media products on a whim (which they just did to all WP7 devices). But even if it was just as good as the iPhone they'd be facing an uphill battle simply due to the Windows name. Windows is a brand you tolerate, not one that inspires loyalty.

      --
      -- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
    14. Re:Subsidized price by Tridus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Now if only stuff being added to Windows Phone 8 was in any way useful to people buying a Lumia today...

      Saying "it's fixed in 8" is totally meaningless when current phones can't be upgraded. Why would anybody in their right mind want to buy a Lumia right now knowing that? Microsoft threw the current lineup of phones under the bus on that one.

      --
      -- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
    15. Re:Subsidized price by ignavus · · Score: 4, Funny

      But apart from those 121 negative points, what did you think of it?

      --
      I am anarch of all I survey.
  2. I've got a better idea. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    How about they give me $400 directly and then I'll pay the $49 for the Lumia.

    They've saved $50!

    1. Re:I've got a better idea. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      We lose money on every sale, but we'll make up for it in volume!

    2. Re:I've got a better idea. by jd2112 · · Score: 4, Funny

      We lose money on every sale, but we'll make up for it in volume!

      What volume? I think I've only seen a couple of Windows phones outside of a mobile phone store. One was owned by a Microsoft employee and the other 'won' it in a Microsoft developer conference.

      --
      Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
  3. Windows Phone needs a hook by mozumder · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The iPhone worked because people could use it as an iPod, and it had the whole exclusive iTunes infrastructure behind it.

    Blackberry's killed it with their keyboard.

    Android didn't get popular until the Droid came out with their keyboard, giving it that differentiation from the iPhone, and that it was available outside of Cingular/AT&T.

    Windows phone doesn't really offer any exclusive hook that'll sell itself. It has a nice UI, but the other systems are pretty good and ultimately very usable.

    I suspect they'll have to tie in deeper with the upcoming Windows 8 infrastructure to get Windows Phone to sell. Or maybe XBox games. But right now it doesn't have that absolutely exclusive must-have killer app or selling point.

    It's really shame, because Windows phone is a perfectly fine system that just needs a critical mass to get going.

  4. Re:Unfortunately, Nokia has no Steve Jobs by Google+Fanboy · · Score: 5, Informative

    Uh, Nokia haven't abandoned their other OSs. They're still selling Symbian, dumb and Linux phones.

  5. Re:Unfortunately, Nokia has no Steve Jobs by kelemvor4 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Uh, Nokia haven't abandoned their other OSs. They're still selling Symbian, dumb and Linux phones.

    Never end a completely uninformed argument with the facts. It's just not nice.

  6. Re:Too Soon by SurfsUp · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Nokia was a giant in the cell industry but has been slipping lately.

    Slipping? That's an understatement. Go check out the 1 year graph. You can't even see today's price because it's lost under the markers at the bottom.

    --
    Life's a bitch but somebody's gotta do it.
  7. Re:Unfortunately, Nokia has no Steve Jobs by Luckyo · · 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.

  8. It's worse by dutchwhizzman · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Heineken and a few other breweries are the only ones that will give a loan to the owner of the bar, since bars and clubs are a high risk investment and most banks won't get involved. Because the breweries aren't banks, they don't have to hold themselves to a lot of regulations that forbid banks from controlling their loaners too much. This means that the breweries often end up owning the building after a previous business goes bankrupt and now most bars and clubs are effectively owned by the breweries. Once they figured out this method, they started to actively buy real estate that houses bars, restaurants and clubs. The real kicker is that those bars pay more for their beers than you and I pay for the same beers in the super market. The innkeepers have to pay rent, make a living and pay their staff, so variation is hard to find and prices are inflated due to the lack of competition this sort of practice brings. Add to that the high alcohol tax and it's no wonder that bars and clubs are such a high risk investment....

    --
    I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
  9. Re:Unfortunately, Nokia has no Steve Jobs by wvmarle · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Dumb phones are still going, but how long they will last is anyone's guess.

    Well, basically, I think they will last for a very long time.

    At least until a smart phone becomes cheaper than a dumb phone - which imho is possible considering a smart phone doesn't have all those mechanical buttons a dumb phone has. And a dozen or so buttons may very well be more expensive to produce than a single touch screen display.

    And even then there will likely always remain a market for simple phones that do one thing, and one thing very well: making phone calls.

  10. Re:Unfortunately, Nokia has no Steve Jobs by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 4, 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.

  11. Re:Unfortunately, Nokia has no Steve Jobs by FearTheDonut · · Score: 4, Informative

    I'd disagree - The worst CEO of all time is Jerry Yang. Elop took a gamble (and appears to be losing miserably). Yang demolished his stock price simply because he "didn't want Darth Vader buying his company."

    If Yang would have sold Yahoo to Microsoft, Microsoft would be in even worse condition AND Yahoo's shareholders would have been thrilled.

  12. Wow! by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Let me guess, when Ballmer did the monkey dance, you were the one person in the world who was sexually aroused?

    I have seen some delusional posts in my time but this one takes the biscuit. You don't deny any of the shortcomings, just come up with endless excuses or even downright admitting it is a huge failure and that is what you think of as a rebuttal.

    With fans like you, what need has Windows 7 of enemies. You are supposed to damn things with faint praise, not by dragging them through the mud and stepping on their wind pipe.

    Thanks for this amazing post, if I had even the slightest incline to perhaps one day try a MS phone, you have thoroughly killed it off. Oh I get, you are secretly an Apple fanboy and seek to discredit MS in disguise? Good job!

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.