It seems that
Nokia Corporation's
(
NOK
) Lumia 920 has given it a fighting chance against
Apple Inc.'s
(
AAPL
) iPhone and
Google Inc.
(
GOOG
) developed Android-based phones. Nokia has seen strong demand
for Lumia 920 since the device became available earlier this
month, mainly attributable to the ongoing holiday season in
U.S.
According to Forbes, Lumia 920 was out of stock at online
retailer
Amazon Inc.
(
AMZN
) and will take at least two weeks to reach consumers while
AT&T Inc.
(
T
), Nokia's exclusive partner for its flagship device has only the
white model left in its shelves.
Nokia is doing well in other parts of the world particularly
in Germany and Australia where the company has experienced sell
outs of its flagship Lumia 920. The struggling handset
manufacturer has reportedly received 2.5 million orders for Lumia
920 which is close to the 2.9 million Lumia series phones that it
sold in the entire 3Q.
However, Forbes suggests that though the data remain
impressive, the out-of-stock situation in the stores could be due
to low inventory position or as a result of the uptick in demand
from the holiday shopping rush.
Lumia 920 is the latest gamble from the Finnish handset
manufacturer which runs on
Microsoft Corporation's
(
MSFT
) Windows Phone8 software. Lumia handsets are powered with rich
features (PureView camera, 4GLTE technology, Windows 8 OS, and
numerous apps), giving Nokia every chance of regaining its lost
glory.
One of the primary reasons for the recent surge in demand for
Lumia 920 is the lackluster product mix of iPhone 5 as compared
to its earlier handsets. Nokia's mapping technology gives it an
edge over Apple whose faulty map service has been subject to
heavy criticism. Additionally, the company has strategically
priced the device at $99.99 which is $100 less than iphone5 and
$200 less than Samsung's flagship SIII.
We remain optimistic that the company has at last found a
winner in the form of Lumia 920 which has at least given them a
ray of hope to gain some market traction. Nevertheless, the
company should not rest on its laurels after this success and
should continue efforts to revamp its falling handset
business.
We retain our long-term Neutral recommendation on Nokia Corp.
However, it holds a Zacks #2 Rank, implying a short-term Buy
rating.
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