Sunday, April 08, 2012

When to Schedule a Make or Break Launch?

Easter Sunday? I don't think so. Although online sales - particularly through Amazon – seem to be doing well, why would you launch a flagship device, a device that both Nokia and Microsoft desperately want to succeed on a day when most of your retail outlets are closed.

AT&T said last month that when Nokia’s new Lumia 900 phone went on sale April 8, it would benefit from the company’s biggest product introduction ever, exceeding even the iPhone’s.

The big day is here. But nearly all 39 AT&T stores within proximity of Times Square in Manhattan were either closed for Easter Sunday or did not answer phone calls. The few that were open did not have the handset in stock.

When AT&T stores within five miles of Times Square were contacted around noon, 18 of them played an automated message saying they were closed for Easter. Nineteen stores that were authorized AT&T resellers did not answer the phone, and two AT&T resellers that were open said they did not have the Lumia 900 yet.

...

When asked about the Easter release date on Friday, AT&T’s spokesman Mark Siegel said: “The Lumia has received tremendous product reviews and we have been taking pre-orders online and in our stores all week. We are already off to the races.” He declined to comment further on Sunday.

For online sales, the Lumia 900 does appear to be doing well. On Sunday afternoon, it was the No. 5 on Amazon’s list of bestselling cellphones with service plans. Tero Kuittinen, an analyst and a vice president of Alekstra, a company that helps customers manage their cellphone bills, said the Amazon numbers were the sign of a strong product release despite the strange timing of Easter Sunday.

 

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