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Nokia's latest quarterly earnings show that the Finnish smartphone maker continues to improve its Lumia sales. Following a jump in Lumia sales in Q4 2012, Nokia's first quarter of 2013 saw the company sell 5.6 million Lumias, another quarterly improvement and a record high — up from 4.4 million in the previous quarter. Nokia says two-thirds of all Lumias sold in Q1 were running Windows Phone 8. Nokia previously shipped two million Lumia smartphones in the same quarter a year ago. Up to March 31st, Nokia has sold 19.9 million Lumias in total since shipping its first Windows Phone device, the Lumia 800, in November 2011.
North American device sales took a hit this quarter with 400,000 shipped in total, a 33 percent decline year-on-year. Nokia previously shipped 700,000 devices in North America during the previous quarter. Nokia says Lumia volumes increased in all regions except North America. Despite a "rolling thunder" approach to the US, it appears that Nokia is still struggling to make ground in an important market. Although Nokia has not yet announced any new Lumia devices for the US, images recently leaked of a Lumia 928 for Verizon. Nokia is expected to launch this device in the coming weeks, a move that may help it improve sales numbers and market share in the US smartphone market.
Elsewhere, revenues have increased in Greater China, suggesting that Nokia is benefiting from high-priced Lumias in that particular region, but overall volumes are still down in all markets as the company continues its transition from Symbian. Data from Horace Dediu at Asymco (see chart above) suggests that Symbian unit sales are dropping faster than Windows Phone is increasing, suggesting that Nokia needs to continue to push its Lumia range to lower price points to increase overall sales.
