Many folks kicked off 2013 by making a New Year's resolution, and it looks like Nokia is no different. Chris Weber, EVP of sales and marketing at Nokia, recently told FierceWireless that the Finnish company plans to work to expand its range of devices with AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon in 2013. Weber explained in the interview that Nokia hopes to have high-end, mid-range and low-end Lumia smartphones available on all of its carrier partners this year.
To date, Nokia has released more devices on AT&T than with any U.S. operator. The company has the Lumia 820, 900 and 920 available on AT&T, while T-Mobile has both the Lumia 710 and 810 and Verizon has the Lumia 822. Many folks have voiced their frustration over the lack of high-end Lumia models on T-Mobile and Verizon, but thankfully it sounds like Nokia will be working to change that in 2013. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop also teased last month that his company is "planning a lot of exciting things with Verizon." Unfortunately for Sprint customers, Nokia hasn't really said much of anything about new products coming to the Now Network.
Along with growing its product portfolio, Weber said that his company plans to focus on imaging and location tech as a way to differentiate itself and its products. Speaking of the optical image stabilization feature found on the Lumia 920, Weber said that Nokia is "just getting started on those innovations." The exec went on to say that Nokia is still satisfied with its decision with adopt Windows Phone thanks to the ecosystem Microsoft has created, which includes Xbox and SkyDrive. Weber feels that this growing ecosystem will help Windows Phone to beat out competition from BlackBerry 10 and other operating systems.
Many rumors in recent years have suggested that Nokia may be interested in creating an Android device, but the company appears committed to Microsoft and its Windows Phone operating system. While we'll have to see whether or not Windows Phone and its ecosystem will be able to beat BlackBerry 10 as Weber suggests it will, one aspect of Windows Phone that's often cited as needing improvement is its app selection. Microsoft says that that will get better in 2013, though, with 46 of the top 50 mobile apps coming soon to Windows Phone. What do you all make of Weber's statements? How do you think Windows Phone will perform against upcoming competition like BlackBerry 10?
Via TmoNews, FierceWireless
