Nokia is planning a media event in early September, with the only rational assumption being that it will announce the world’s first Windows 8 phone.
The event will take place on September 5. Media invites describe it as a “Nokia and Microsoft Press Conference.”
That puts it one week before the expected September 12 event where Apple will show off the iPhone 5.
Nokia was eager to boast about sales of the Lumia 710, which was its very first Windows Phone device and marked Nokia’s return to the US market. However, the company has remained very quiet on the performance of succeeding devices.
An extraordinary TV ad campaign was launched for the Lumia 900, for example, and AT&T retail employees reportedly went through rigorous training about what the phone brings to the market and how to peddle it to customers. There is now some question as to whether or not those efforts led to significant sales.
Nokia quickly vaulted to the status of being the top Windows Phone manufacturer, although that’s kind of like being the best player in Little League – you’ll still have a tough time competing in the MLB. In other words, Android and iOS are still dominating the market, and Nokia has a long way to go if it wants to legitimately compete in that field.
So far, Nokia has made quite an impression, and there is the possibility that it could almost single-handedly help bring Windows Phone within striking distance of the two larger smartphone OS players. It will need to continue innovating if it wants that to happen.
