Although Nokia announced its next flagship phone, the Lumia 920, before all its competitors, the actual release date may still be two months away.
Nokia is aiming to release the Lumia 920 on November 2 with AT&T and is working with the carrier and Microsoft on a number of tests, unnamed sources tell The Verge. But even that date isn’t solid, and could slip if any testing issues arise.
Reuters also reports that Nokia will start selling the Lumia 920 in November, citing sources at European telecoms operators.
Officially, Nokia hasn’t announced pricing, a release date, or wireless carrier support for its latest Windows Phone. Support from AT&T seems like a given, considering that the carrier already sells Nokia’s Lumia 900, and the Lumia 920 is essentially a sequel, with a larger and crisper display, a faster processor, and a much-improved camera, plus the latest version of the Windows Phone software.
But other wireless carriers are staying tight-lipped on whether they’ll sell any Nokia phones this holiday season. Verizon tells CNet that it will sell “multiple Windows Phones” in the fourth quarter, but says only that it’s having “healthy conversations” with Nokia. A report from Engadget claims Verizon may sell a “Lumia 822,” which could be a tweaked version of Nokia’s upcoming mid-range handset, but no word on the flagship.
T-Mobile, which sells Nokia’s low-end Lumia 710 hasn’t announced any plans. Sprint says it wants to be involved with Windows Phone 8 but may not be part of the first wave.
All of this could spell trouble for Nokia, which needs broad carrier support if it wants back into the U.S. market. Last quarter, Nokia shipped 4 million Lumia smartphones worldwide, but only 600,000 of those sales came from the United States and Canada. AT&T alone won’t be able to turn Nokia around in the United States, especially if the Lumia 920 isn’t around to compete with Apple’s iPhone and other high-end handsets in October.
Follow Jared on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+ and follow Today@PCWorld on Twitter for even more tech news and commentary.