Following a leaked photo of a new Nokia Lumia phone for Verizon that's expected to launch soon, there's now a new rumor Verizon will get two Lumia models.
And the latest leak paints a picture of what Nokia's Lumia launch strategy will be. It seems like each carrier will have a modified version of the two core models Nokia announced in September: The Lumia 920 and Lumia 820.
Here's the breakdown:
- The Twitter account @evleaks, which has been correct with Nokia leaks in the past, tweeted a photo of the Lumia 822 for Verizon. The Lumia 822 appears to be an altered version of the low-end Lumia 820 Nokia announced last month.
- The person who runs the Twitter account @NokiaPureView, who we understand from PhoneArena and WPCentral is also accurate with Nokia leaks, says he has used the Lumia 922, which will also launch on Verizon. It's safe to assume the 922 will be Verizon's version of the Lumia 920.
- AT&T announced last week it will sell the Lumia 920 and 820.
- T-Mobile announced it will sell an altered version of the Lumia 820 called the Lumia 810.
- We still don't know what's up with Sprint.
So to be clear, here are all the Lumia models we (think) we know about so far: 810, 820, 822, 920, and 922. That's five variations of two phones and they're all going to launch around the same time.
Why can't Nokia launch the same phone on all carriers the way Samsung and Apple can?
The likely answer is that Nokia doesn't have the same clout over carriers that Samsung and Apple do. As a result, the carriers demand "exclusive" devices from Nokia, so Nokia is forced to tweak its hardware for each carrier.
It's good for Nokia that it'll be able to sell a Lumia phone on most major carriers. But it's bad (and confusing) for customers who want to be sure they're getting the best Nokia has to offer.
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