SHARES of Nokia (NASDAQ: NOK) plunged 12 percent after its new Lumia smart-phones fell short in impressing businessmen who are looking for more innovative handheld devices to lift the financially-troubled tech firm.
The Finnish company and its ally Microsoft Corp. featured the Lumia 920 smart-phone last Wednesday in what could be the companies’ final biggest attempt at getting back market share they shed to Samsung, Apple and Google Inc.
Nokia and Microsoft hope the new gadget – equipped with a larger screen, bright hues and a new feature that minimizes shakiness and blur – will emerge as a powerful tool in a growing battle to control the smart-phone market. However, investors claimed the Lumia did not have the “wow” factor and easily gave it a failing grade.
Shares of Nokia started falling halfway thru the New York launch and settled 12.9 percent at 1.98 euros, the largest single-day fall since July. The firm’s US-listed stocks ended way low at almost 17 percent at $2.37.
The Lumia was the premier in a series of planned hand-held-gadget launches anticipated prior to the holiday buying season. The Motorola Mobility of Google, on the other hand, featured three new smart-phones that are powered by the Android OS.
Amazon.com Inc will unveil the firm’s new Kindle Fire, Thursday and Apple Inc is seen to introduce its new iPhone on Sept. 12.
GALAXY S3 SALES REACH OVER 20-M
Meanwhile, Samsung announced Thursday that worldwide sales of the company’s Galaxy S3 smart-phones have broken the 20-million mark since its debut last May.
The new record comes 3 times and 6 times faster compared to the Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 units, Samsung bared in a media report, pointing to earlier versions in the Galaxy S series that have sold over 50 million units in total since 2010.
Samsung emphasized that its Europe sales outpaced other geographical locations with more than 6 million, while sales in Asia and the US followed with 4.6 million and 4.1 million, respectively. Sales in its home territory in Korea reached more than 2.5 million.
The world’s biggest maker of smart-phones said it intends to maintain its solid sales by integrating new color schemes to its current white and blue versions.
The breakthrough comes prior to the its fiercest competitor’s much-publicized iPhone 5 debut in the coming days. The new gadget, which is anticipated to battle it out with the Samsung Galaxy S3, is seen to be launched at a media event in San Francisco next week.
While sales of the Galaxy S3 beat Apple’s iPhone 4S last month as the top-selling smart-phone in the United States, experts predict the upcoming iPhone may reverse such trend, as people that have been trying to delay hand-held purchases now come back to the market.
You must log in to post a comment.