lumia

In what has to be a slight sigh of relief for investors, Nokia stock (NOK) has passed the $2 mark today closing at $2.02 a share or a 9.78% jump since opening.

That’s up from its low just a week ago of $1.63 and could indicate renewed faith in the struggling smartphone company. From the look of it, most analysts and perhaps now investors think the worst is now behind Nokia. Having hit bottom, the company can only go up (or die trying).

That’s not to say all is healthy. Investors, analysts and even Nokia themselves are still predicting next quarters earnings to continue to be weak. A return to profitability is still at least a few months away, assuming the company has a hit with Windows Phone 8 and carrier deals for their devices.

In related news, the cuts at the company continue and friend of the site and class act Keith Nowak, who handled Nokia’s PR in the US, has unfortunately been let go today. Our best wishes to him in the future. You can read about Keith’s experience with Nokia on his personal blog—it’s a great read.

The seaside is a wonderful place for sun, sea, sand and Windows Phones! Looks like Nokia are at it again, but this time they've teamed up with Quiksilver and a load of Surfer dudes to promote Windows Phone. If the images and video in this article are anything to go by, it looks like they had a hoot at Biarritz in France, this time hosting the Roxy Pro surfing tournament. Nokia have teamed up with Sosh and Quiksilver to launch a youth oriented variant of the sleek and stylish Lumia 610.

It’s would seem that no Windows Phone event by the sea is complete without a pair of oh-so-trendy Windows Phone endorsed white sunglasses. Microsoft and Nokia were there in force showing off the full range of Windows Phones, giving the beach boys n girls plenty of hands-on time. Of course no Windows Phone event would be complete without the “Smoked By Windows Phone” team smoking peoples phones so you’ll be happy to know they're at it again. If that's not enough, looks like spray on ‘I love Windows Phones’ tattoos were being dished out. Lets hope they come off this time?

As well as Nokia shifting almost 4m Lumia handsets in Q2, it would seem there is yet more good news for our Windows Phone. If true, as a recent survey by Amplified Analytics is showing, and there is a 18% rise in customer satisfaction then things are looking rosy indeed. The survey carried out by aggregating over 104,691 customer reviews suggests that the Windows Phone users are almost 20% more chuffed with their recent purchase than in the previous quarter.

Drilling into the details it seems that the current Windows Phone darling, the Lumia 900 seems to be wiping the floor with the other OS satisfaction results in some areas. Depending on how you read into these bar graphs, the Lumia owners are more than happy with the OS. The same seems to be echoed in the results for the design also.

Nokia is set to market their first Windows Phone 8 hardware differently, according to a report by the Financial Times. The manufacturer will be entering into partnerships with a handful of EU carriers to exclusively launch their next generation Windows Phone. The newspaper states the company has already entered into talks with a number of operators including France Telecom.

Nokia has traditionally relied on flooding the market with a number of mobile devices in the hope of getting them in the hands of as many consumers as possible. This may well be scrapped for a more exclusive release-based strategy with handpicked partners, much like the deal established with AT&T in the US, or perhaps we could be seeing devices specifically tailored for different carriers with differentiating features and branding?

Nokia has reportedly shipped 6.9 million Lumias

Sales numbers and estimates are always a tricky thing, especially when you don’t have concrete numbers to work with. We also tend to boast the good news and downplay the bad so with that caveat we’ll provide you the latest in “market analysis”. Don’t worry, this one is mostly good.

Strategy Analytics is making quite the name for themselves this day if only because they tend to buck the trend when it comes to Nokia and Windows Phone. In their latest report (available here to subscribers), they claim that Nokia shipped (not necessarily sold) 6.9 million Lumia Windows Phone since its launch in Q4 2011 and up through Q2 2012. 

Nokia Australia is planning to host two "Smoked by Windows Phone" challenges in Australia this coming weekend. The two marketing events will take place in Sydney and Melbourne but will contain a twist to differentiate from the generic Windows Phone challenge, according to the team. With Nokia UK challenging the general public with common smartphone tasks to see if they survive or are dared to engage in fearful activities, we could be in for some exciting ideas in Australia.

A cash prize ($100) is available should you manage to best the Windows Phone challenge, but should you lose... we'll have to wait and see - though we expect to see some dares. If you have an Android or Symbian device, the iPhone, a BlackBerry, or even a Windows Phone yourself, you will be eligible to participate - though we're not entirely sure how a Windows Phone smartphone can enter against an identical handset. Fastest finger first?

It's estimated that with each Lumia 900 sold in the US for $49, $450 is used to market the Windows Phone for the consumer to actually make the purchase. So we're looking at a fairly expensive US launch should reports be accurate. Is it really all doom and gloom for the platform and Nokia?

Blogger Horace Dediu suggests the push in the States has had negligible impact on the market so far, which we'd agree with. It has been pretty poor. The Lumia 900 received "hero status" from AT&T and is the largest marketing effort by the carrier to-date. But according to recent marketshare numbers, the Windows Phone platform is still struggling in the up-hill battle. We can't just look at the Lumia 900, we have to really look at the perception of Windows Phone as a platform.

With news this week that Nokia has had mild to moderate success on AT&T with the Lumia 900 we should not be surprised to hear that a price drop is coming. After all, the phone has been out now for nearly four months and product cycles dictate that there is always something better down the line.

We’re hearing from an AT&T employee (and we verified with someone higher up in the food chain) that the flagship Windows Phone is set to get a $50 price cut this Sunday and will now be offered for $49.99 on a two-year contract--all colors.  That’s in addition to AT&T stores still offering $50 in free accessories making the Lumia 900 a decent deal for new users looking for a solid smartphone.

This Sunday is also a big day for Nokia and AT&T as the pink Lumia 900 is also going on sale, a carrier exclusive. The combo of a pink Lumia 900 for the ladies along with a $50 price tag should give the phone a modest boost in sales--at least that’s probably what AT&T and Nokia are hoping. It should be interesting to see if sales are brisk or stagnant in a few days from now.

Curiously, the Lumia 900 is still the #3 best-seller for AT&T phones on Amazon Wireless and has remained in the position for quite some time. While Amazon Wireless is not a direct reflection on overall sales, it’s a good sign that at least some people are buying it.

Are any of our readers looking to pick up the pink Lumia 900 this weekend for their woman-folk? Does the $50 price tag make it that much sweeter or do you think it won’t matter with sales? Thanks, Danny, for the tip

Walmart is offering the Lumia 710 at a low price of just $269 on a prepaid agreement. Like all prepaid (or PAYG - Pay As You Go) plans, the no-commitment usage of a feature rich smartphone appeals to many and with Windows Phone 8 hardware on the horizon, it may prove to be a good move to take up such an agreement while waiting for what's next from manufacturers and Microsoft.

The Lumia 710 on offer is the white version with a black clip-on case. Walmart has beaten both T-Mobile and Best Buy's pricing by $30, which is certainly something to consider. With the low-end hardware from Nokia and other OEMs, Windows Phones can take advantage of prepaid plans at lower pricing levels.

Interestingly, the Lumia 710 (white and black) are the #3 and #4 top-selling 4G phones on T-Mobile which backs up previous statements from Nokia and T-Mo that the phones are still selling.

Head on over to Walmart's website to check if your local store has stock.

Source: Walmart; thanks, Robert, for the heads up!