Nokia cuts price of old Lumias after unboxing shiny new ones

By Natasha Lomas on 7 September 2012, 12:00pm

Nokia has cut the price of its existing line of Windows Phone-based Lumias to prop up sales ahead of the arrival of its two new Windows Phone 8 (WP8) phones, the Reuters news agency is reporting.

The once Mighty Finn took the wraps off the WP8-based Lumia 920 and 820 at a press event held in New York this week. But despite showing off the two shiny new handsets, it had nothing to say on how much they would cost or when they will launch.

The result? Nokia has once again left itself with a portfolio of orphaned handsets to try and flog, with possibly months to go before it can start selling its new line. Many buyers are likely to wait to purchase one of the new WP8 Lumias, rather than spend cash on a WP7 phone -- which won't get future updates or be able to run WP8 apps.

Nokia has shaved around 15 per cent off the price of the Lumia 800, according to Reuters, and also reduced other existing Lumia models by smaller amounts, in a bid to tempt people to buy its phones.

The Lumia 800 currently costs around £340 SIM free, while the Lumia 900 can be picked up for around £370.

Asked to confirm the price reductions, a Nokia spokesman said: "We don't comment on speculation and rumour."

Reuters notes that analyst house CCS Insight, which tracks industry prices, was able to confirm the cuts, along with two industry sources. CCS Insight added that the price cuts were necessary for Nokia to try and maintain sales momentum while it waits to launch WP8 devices.

Update: A Nokia spokesman denied the company has cut prices of existing Lumias since unveiling the two WP8 devices. He said: "No we have not cut prices since the launch two days ago."

The spokesman added: "In common with every other manufacturer in the industry our price[s] do tend to go down over time – I wish we could make them go the other way but that's a trick which has eluded the entire global marketplace."

Would a smaller price tag be enough to make you buy one of Nokia's current Lumias or do you have your heart set on bagging the Lumia 920 or 820? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or drop us a line over on Facebook.

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anonymous 7 September, 2012 12:58

Already made this mistake once before.
None of the current Lumia or future Lumia's support rSAP (WP 7 & 8 do not support rSAP) so they wont work with in car bluetooth/satnav systems in alot of cars including Audi, Porsche, VW, Seat, Skoda, Ford just to name a few makes so no, I will definatly not be buying any of the new Lumia's

CaptainPicard 7 September, 2012 14:57

Nokia should have unveiled the new range of Lumia's a maximum of 4 weeks before it went on sale instead of possibly months. Samsung unveiled the S3, and a few weeks later it went on sale, and Apple normally releases an iPhone a week before it goes on sale. Despite the current generation not getting Windows 8 It could be a bargain for some people; many Android manufactures still launch phones with Gingerbread, and they still sell well, despite no information on when they will get updates to new software, if ever.

damien2501 7 September, 2012 16:08

Bargain. I'd pick one of these over an android phone anyday. Most androids in this price range ain't updated anyway and the 7.5 update will bring most of the features of windows 8 anyway.

anonymous 8 September, 2012 08:54

@damien2501, true that!

anonymous 9 September, 2012 10:53

I ended up dropping my Galaxy S2, and was beyond repair... I needed a phone to see me through to the of my 2yr contract, so purchased the Nokia Lumia 710 for £79 from the CPW sim free as a cheap replacement.
Im loving it!
Can't believe this phone is so cheap for what it does.
Windows Phone 7 is so fluid, quick and has nearly all the major popular Android apps.
CNET forget to point out we'll be getting a 7.8 update, there is talk in other forums that Microsoft are going to improve the update with further features not published before like camera improvements, Office 2013 and Internet Explorer 10.
If you do not need to have the latest phone, but want an all round great phone at a bargain price. I reckon this is the best you can buy!
No budget Android phone can touch it at this price point!