(Jacob Andrzejczak 2010)
Existing Windows Phone owners let out a resigned sigh when Microsoft announced that current hardware won't be upgradeable to the new and improved Windows Phone 8 operating system when it launches later this year. Analysts worried that Microsoft's decision could spell disaster for Nokia, the struggling handset maker that threw its full weight behind Windows Phone 7 and its Lumia line. So has the news turned the Lumia into a dead phone walking?
Not quite. During an investor call yesterday, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said that "Lumia activations were flat to up in the weeks following Windows Phone 8 announcement," the Verge reports.
The Lumia lineup has been picking up steam over the course of the year, Bloomberg reports. After selling only 2 million units of the heavily promoted smartphone in the first quarter of the year, sales doubled to 4 million units in the second quarter. That wasn't enough to make the Finnish company some cash, however -- Nokia lost revenue for the fifth consecutive quarter.
Nokia plans on pushing Windows Phone 7.8 to the Lumia line when it becomes available, which adds Windows 8-like expandable functionality to Windows 7 phones, but none of the other Windows 8 benefits. Elop said the company also plans to continue selling its current Lumia phones even after Windows Phone 8 launches.
Image credit: Nokia
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