Can Lumia Save Windows Phone?

It is reported that. Nokia recorded a record sales volume of Lumia Windows mobile phones in the third quarter, with sales in the United States and North America increasing nearly 400%. Is the sales volume of Nokia Lumia mobile phones blown in the third quarter enough to save Windows Phone? Or is Microsoft's smartphone platform doomed to failure?

Nokia said that it sold 8.8 million Lumia handsets in the third quarter, an increase of 19% from the sales of 7.4 million units in the second quarter, an increase of 40% year-on-year, and sales of 6.3 million units in the third quarter of last year.

Nokia sold 1.4 million Lumia handsets in the United States and North America in the third quarter, an increase of 180% compared to sales of 500,000 units in the second quarter, and an increase of 367% compared to sales of 300,000 units in the same period last year. Nokia said that sales growth in the third quarter was largely due to the cheap Lumia 520 rather than expensive high-end equipment. This should be no surprise, Windows Phone's strength is mainly reflected in the upgrade from a feature phone to Windows Phone.

Mary-Ann Parlato, an analyst at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, said earlier this year: “The strength of Windows seems to be reflected in its ability to attract smart phone buyers for the first time, and is an upgrade from feature phones. Of the users who switched mobile phones to Windows smartphones in the past year, 52% had previously owned a feature phone. According to IDC, global sales of 8.8 million Lumia phones sound impressive, but If you compare, you would not think so. In the fourth fiscal quarter that just passed, Apple sold 33.8 million iPhones and Samsung sold 88.4 million smartphones. From the sales point of view, Nokia did not rank among the top five smartphone makers in the quarter. According to Comshare, Windows Phone has only 3.2% market share in the United States, and analysts have to look for new things to praise Nokia's performance.

Neil Mawston, executive director of Strategy Analytics, said: "Although Nokia sells a low number of mobile phones, its smart phone sales are moving in the right direction."

Windows Phone will not be popular unless it completely narrows the gap between iOS and Android. In August of this year, Garter said that the gap between applications is seriously undermining the opportunity for Windows Phone to gain market share. Bloomberg reported recently that developers also avoided Windows Phone because of a small return. The report pointed out that more than a dozen developers said that although Nokia's mobile phone business provides Microsoft with a ready-made channel for Windows Phone devices, it is not enough to overcome the user's lack of cost and technical specifications related to the confusion. Therefore, although Nokia's sales data is still OK, it is not good enough. Unless the gap between applications completely disappears, Windows Phone will still be a "loser."