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The Very Strange Easter Sunday Launch Of The Nokia Lumia 900

This article is more than 10 years old.

Clearly, someone at AT&T, or Nokia, or maybe Microsoft, was not thinking things through.

Yesterday, AT&T officially launched the Nokia Lumia 900, the well-reviewed new flagship phone in its new line of devices based on the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 operating system software. Pre-orders of the phone started March 30, but Sunday - that would be EASTER Sunday - was the official launch date, and in fact you can now buy the phone on the AT&T Web site.

So, for some reason, it did not occur to AT&T that they might have sold more phones launching on a day when the stores were actually open for business. Barclays Capital analyst Raimo Lenschow points out in a research note that he checked 10-15 AT&T stores, and all were closed for the holiday.

The analyst found other issues. "We found promotional materials for the Lumia - banners, display cases, etc. - unevenly prepared during our window shopping," he writes. "The promotional messages on the answering services for the stores was in fact for the iPhone." He adds that calls to the AT&T national sales office also found poor preparation, with several sales reps unaware of the device itself.  One person told the analyst that the devices were already in stores. Another told him that they would reach stores April 17.

"The lack of coordination was fully on display in Manhattan," the analyst adds. "Nokia sponsored a concert with Nicky Minaj in Times Square to launch the Lumia 900...but in its sponsorship of the Masters, AT&T did not mention the Lumia."

While somewhat disturbing, Lenschow thinks the weakly planned launch might not stop the device from finding an audience. "Several positive datapoints have emerged in recent weeks on consumer demand in North America," the analyst writes. "T-Mobile indicated the 710 is a top selling device in the U.S. In Canada, the Lumias appear to be ahead of expectations - which could have been quite modest.  Finally, AT&T has indicated the promotional support for the Lumia 900 will be the largest in the company's history.  We consider the launch key for all three partners."

NOK today is up 4 cents, at $5.15.