JUST IN: As end of Q2 nears, IBM employees fret 'resource actions'

Topic: Nokia

Discover

Nokia Lumia 920 pricing revealed: £125 cheaper than iPhone 5

Summary: Pricing for the upcoming Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 handsets is beginning to trickle out from European markets, indicating that the range-topping device could come in more than £100 cheaper than the equivalent Apple device.

Ben Woods

By for Tech tech boom |

Pricing for the soon to be released Windows Phone 8-based Nokia Lumia 820 and 920 smartphones has started to leak out for European markets, putting undecided iPhone 5 or Galaxy S3 buyers to the test.

Nokia Lumia 920
The Lumia 920 Photo Credit: Ben Woods

The headline grabbing Lumia 920 model will cost around €599 (£475) according to Nokia's Italian office, reports say, although it has also been announced by Nokia Germany as €649.

While Nokia could not, or would not confirm UK pricing to me, I have been reliably informed that it is likely to be closer to Italian pricing, so, somewhere around £475 SIM-free. Naturally, I also expect it to be free on qualifying contract deals when it's available on EE's network.

The slightly lower-specced (but in some ways, preferable) Lumia 820 is listed as coming in at €499 (in both Germany and Italy) meaning it should make its way to the UK for something like £395 if SIM-free.

The pricing of the 920 puts it in direct competition with premium handsets like the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S3. However, the S3 still costs around £450 (despite being on the shelves for around 3 months) and the freshly-released iPhone 5 pricing starts from £529, rising to £599 for the equivalent 32GB model.

Topics: Nokia, Mobility, Smartphones, United Kingdom

About

With several years' experience covering everything in the world of telecoms and mobility, Ben's your man if it involves a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or any other piece of tech small enough to carry around with you.

Google+ Contact

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

Talkback

79 comments
Log in or register to join the discussion

  • Good, now Cupertino can release their script

    Cupertino was waiting to see what the price of the 920 was going to be before deciding what script to release. Had the pricing been equivalent or higher than iPhone 5, the script was going to read:
    "This is awful for Nokia, there is no way they can get away with charging as much as the iPhone 5. They won't sell any of these because it is too expensive. Nokia will be bankrupt within days. Evil M$."

    Since the price has come in significantly lower than iPhone's price, they will release this script:
    "This is awful for Nokia, there is no way they can make a profit charging this little. They won't sell any of these because WP8 sucks. Nokia will be bankrupt within days. Evil M$."
    toddbottom3
    Reply 4 Votes

    • Doubtful

      Cupertino doesn't have the time these days to bother with any such script. What, with the map mess they have in their hands and all....
      BR999
      Reply Vote

      • True, Apple really messed up with iOS 6

        It is only a matter of time before Apple kills someone with their incompetence.
        toddbottom3
        Reply 1 Vote

        • If faulty maps can kill, Google is a mass-murderer

          Without a doubt iOS 6 Maps are a clusterfu¢k, but let's not forget that Google Maps had more than it's share of growing pains, and legal scandals.
          matthew_maurice
          Reply 1 Vote

          • Really? That makes Apple look even MORE incompetent

            So Apple has already had a chance to see how not to do it and they proceeded to mess it up anyway? That's even worse. That makes Apple look even more incompetent. It is one thing to be a pioneer and make mistakes. It takes a huge amount of complete incompetence to not learn from past mistakes.

            Thanks Matthew, I didn't realize it was actually quite that bad.
            toddbottom3
            Reply 1 Vote

          • You and your non-sequiturs.

            You make some idiotic statement, someone calls you on it, and then you change the subject. You remind me of good, ol' NonZealot. He couldn't keep his arguments straight, either.
            matthew_maurice
            Reply 1 Vote

          • How did I change the subject?

            We were discussing maps. You quite truthfully pointed out that others have made the exact same mistakes Apple has made. Just because you didn't intend for your statement to be used against you doesn't make it a non-sequitur.
            toddbottom3
            Reply 1 Vote

          • No, we were discussing deaths.

            Granted, deaths by incompetence, but deaths nonetheless, and then you went off about Apple looking more incompetent because Google Maps once sucked too. But where are the deaths?! Find a reference to a death by Google map, and then we can discuss whether a death by iOS Map will occur sooner or later.

            Or better yet, you can just admit that someone dying because of a bad map is incredibly ridiculous and then shut up.
            matthew_maurice
            Reply 1 Vote

          • Hey, you were the one who wanted to go there

            You were the one who said the equivalent of "Apple just made the same mistakes that Google made years earlier."

            I agree. Apple did make the exact same mistakes that Google did.

            That makes Apple look TERRIBLE.

            So thanks Matthew, always nice when you provide ammunition to show how bad Apple is.
            toddbottom3
            Reply 1 Vote

          • :) but its worse than that...

            They did not hired QA team for sanity checks for maps...

            Now we have 2 sets of islands. One for Japan, one for China. How politically correct...

            Or some barns missed for airports...

            For that matter automated Google queries for important object (airports, etc.) would sort some of the mess at least.

            So Apple did not learned, but also did not have people who would check if they maid it right.
            przemoli
            Reply 1 Vote

        • Ahhh!!!

          You've been reading Gerwitz. How cute!
          MG537-23482538203179240121698430309828
          Reply 1 Vote

        • Already happened

          How many foxconn employees have already paid the price of manufacture?
          martincrosbie
          Reply Vote

      • What Apple does better?

        Mainly marketing and communication.
        If you compare objectively the iPhone 5 and the Lumia 920, the last one is simply better in most of the points.
        Where is NFC (easy touch & go pay and transfers) in any apple product? Nokia proposes this since more than one year.
        Screen or camera? Better on Lumia 920.
        Design and handle? Lumia 920 is more "sexy"! Beside, the iPhone 5 looks already "has been".
        Windows 8 is more flexible and innovative than iOS 6 despite it's ore recent.
        Lumia 920 is more "high tech" ...and otherwise cheaper : Nokia take less in your wallet and give you more!
        No. It's really a good deal!
        Baldwin de la Bruyère
        Reply Vote

    • This is really great news. A better os on better hardware for less money

      You get a much more secure, much faster, much more reliable and stable os, with a much better user experience, on hardware that's got a much better camera, a much better screen, NFC, and a much more durable chasis. And all for 20% less than an iphone5. And on top of that the next iphone5S that gives apple another shot at catching up is still a full year away.
      Johnny Vegas
      Reply 4 Votes

      • Ah thank you Johnny...

        At time of writing, there are 15 posts before yours, none of which have anything to do with this article. Reading these comments, your post is like an ascent from Hades. Thank you sir.

        On topic, i'm fully with you. I'm getting quite excited about these devices. I like everything I've been seeing. From the videos, the ui does look exceptionally user friendly but I've not got hands on yet, and I'll be awaiting app support before I jump in, but I'm not too worried this time.

        With regards the price, I too am happy how much bang there is for the buck. Looking over the stats I may be an 820, but we'll see.

        Litterally the only negative comment I could make at these prices would be that by being cheaper, public perception could still be that iPhone is best, because it costs the most... But then that's true of the SGSIII, and it's features have won over many I know.

        Looking forward to seeing the HTC prices confirmed, but I aldready feel a but of loyalty to Nokia for the Lunina 900. I never got one because this year has always been about WP8, but I got hands on and loved it.
        MarknWill
        Reply 2 Votes

    • Carrier relations, price competitiveness, touch only craziness.

      If nokia goes touch only it leaves virtually 100% of its pre-winp7 customer base in the cold. Same for EU, emerging markets, etc...

      Price competitiveness is important since Nokia Lumia 920 will compete against iPhone, regardless of price. 1$ 920 would be pitched against iPhone 5 as likely as 1000$ 920. Lumia 920 is flagship of WinP8 from most relevant WinP8 OEM right?

      Nokia showed time and again that it can produce profitable high end smartphones with premium prices. (Look for N9 for example!) But didn't managed that trick with WinP so far. (Well bugs in WinP7 software did not helped here). With WinP8 it should be easier, but Nokia need to convince observers that it can pull the trick. (As opposed to for example samsung or apple, that are assumed to make profit).

      Last but not least. Carrier relations. Nokia do not have good ones. (as stated by its CEO on every stakeholder meeting...). That why Nokia have to revert to carrier exclusives... (nobody change carrier due to smartphones being not available! ok maybe for iPhone, though even that is unlikely, go check Apple expansion in carrier relations)

      Here WinP8 can not change much. MS is not reliable partner. Nokia perform badly. WinP7 did not sold. WinP8 will need time even in best scenario to achieve sales.

      Changing CEO would probably help most for Nokia...

      PS. Not big fan of android, though I like one ecosystem that was possible with it! Just big fan of MeeGo...
      przemoli
      Reply Vote

      • Carrier relations

        @przemoli,

        What is this you smoke?

        "Carrier relations. Nokia do not have good ones."

        This is complete nonsense. Nokia has a business that suppies GSM carriers (at least in Europe) with a lot of equipment to build their cellular networks. They are the only European vendor that provides carriers with professional equipment and phones. Ok, might be Alcatel still have some small phone business, Siemens, Ericsoss already quit.
        Nokia is at every carrier shop, with no exception. That can't be said for Apple at all.

        Nokia is not profitable with any phone released recently. Their phone business is not profitable for ever since marrying Microsoft, at all.

        There is only one valid reason Nokia prices their WP phones below the iPhone: people do not want them!
        Had Nokia keps Symbian or MeeGo, the story would have been very different. But to pay about as much for an non-upgradeable Nokia WP, than you pay for an iPhone.. why?

        N9 was an extremely nice piece of hardware with decent software, but..
        danbi
        Reply 1 Vote

        • FuDD

          Non-upgradeable phone? Just because you can install a software update on a phone doesn't make it an upgrade. You can put the iOS 6 on a 3G/3Gs sure. But the phone nearly stops being functional. It might as well be a first gen with how slow it becomes. With the 4/4s models, its not the speed but the stability. I own one and know from first hand experience. It was not an upgrade. A few functions that should have been there anyway is all.

          As far as WP8 not being upgradeable... you are just a talking out of your posterior. There is no evidence that the phone will not be upgradeable. Simply because previous phones were not hardware compatible with a major revision release doesn't prove anything in the future. Next year the 3G/3Gs wont be upgradeable either. It happens to all hardware without exception.
          AMindAmoK
          Reply Vote

    • Geez get a life Bottom feeder!

      Or find a different religion, cause tech isn't a religion. What a looser to spend so much time hating an object, D'oh!
      GoPower
      Reply Vote

    • Hey Non Zealot!

      You're still at it?
      I guess old habits die hard. --> Find Apple/iPhone/iPad thread and troll away!
      MG537-23482538203179240121698430309828
      Reply Vote
CNET Join | Log In | Privacy | Cookies Close