Nokia Lumia 900 Showing Promising Sales, Despite AT&T Store Holiday Closures

Nokia Lumia 900 Showing Promising Sales, Despite AT&T Store Holiday Closures:

The Nokia Lumia 900 officially launched on Sunday. Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired

Initial sales indicators for the Lumia 900, Nokia’s most important U.S. Windows Phone to date, are showing that the handset is off to a good start despite the fact that the phone launched on Easter Sunday, a day when most AT&T stores were closed.
The Lumia 900 rose to the top of Amazon’s smartphone rankings today, beating out favorites like the Droid Razr Maxx, the previously most popular phone, and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. As of press time, the black Lumia 900 model holds the number one spot, and the cyan model holds the number two spot. Yesterday, the handset debuted in fifth place on the site.
The exact sales numbers that propelled the 900 to the top of Amazon’s leader board aren’t known at this time. That said, the handset’s successful Amazon performance was likely bolstered by its incredibly cheap $50 price tag. In our review, we stated $100 was a bargain, and now Amazon is undercutting Nokia’s retail price by half.
Those looking to nab the Lumia 900 from an AT&T store may have had a difficult time purchasing the phone yesterday. In the greater New York area, nearly every AT&T store was closed or didn’t have the phone in stock, the New York Times reported. The same was true here in San Francisco: Pretty much all AT&T stores were closed on launch day.
Does that even matter? Yes, but not necessarily in the long run.
“Most phones are not purchased online. Google tried that with the Nexus and failed a few years ago. People want to touch and feel the devices,” Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney said. However, it’s OK that the phone launched when it did, Dulaney said, adding, “The advertising campaign coordination will be the most important factor to its longer term success.”