Perhaps one of the shortest life cycles in the history of smartphones belong to the highly talked about, then highly ignored Lumia 900. Nokia placed its hopes on their supposed flagship phone for the year, which is an update to the previous Lumia 800. With their stocks falling faster and faster, as new and better smartphones hit the market, they had to act, and act wisely. They did act, but not so wisely.
When Nokia announced that they were finally ready to do away with the Symbian operating system, in favor of a full-powered operating system, many people jumped at the idea of a Nokia Android device. Nokia has made a name for itself in creating lasting phones with amazing design perspectives, and that got people excited. The excitement ends as they learn that they favored a returning player in the Smartphone market: Windows Mobile.
Windows mobile has certainly been around for a while now, and it has been underwhelming. It didn’t pick up as much as iOS or Android did, and is mostly favored by loyalists. Still, the choice was wise at that time, as they sided with the group that still had a lot of potential to grow. It 
would also allow Nokia to differentiate themselves from all those who jumped Google’s way to get an Android device.
Just a little after the birth and adaptation of the Lumia 900, Nokia was faced with a painful slap. Their flagship device will soon be obsolete. Microsoft betrayed all hopes that the very new Lumia 900 will be receiving the Windows 8 treatment. We recall from a previous article that it will instead just receive an aesthetic update for Windows mobile 7.
Since then, it was obvious that the Lumia 900 was avoided like the plague. People got the idea that the life of all Windows 7 devices will end after the 7.8 update that will arrive once Windows Mobile 8 is here.
In an almost too obvious desperate move, Nokia has slashed the price of the Lumia 900 from $99 to $49 in the AT&T network. This price cut hopefully will spark some interest for consumers. Still, it will not change the fact that the device is not getting the Windows Mobile 8, and that people are now holding off until a suitable phone arrives. With a lock in period of 2 years, many would think twice about being stuck with an obsolete phone.
The Lumia 900 was just released last April this year. Nokia denies any claim of desperation, saying that this is a normal stage in the life cycle of the phone. If the message is analyzed further, you would notice that they actually did say the truth. It is a natural step in the life cycle of any phone to have a massive price cut, but that only happens when the phone is nearing the END of its life. Without even reaching a full quarter, the Lumia 900 was doomed to end. Making it cheaper might get some sales, but it will not be enough to gain popularity.
It is not to say that there won’t be anyone who will bite into this price cut. The economy is suffering, and a low price, yet capable phone like the Lumia 900 still has a place somewhere, even if that is in a cold dark corner.
If having the latest and greatest is of no concern for you, the Lumia 900 is as good as anyone can get at that price. Will you bite into the bait Nokia has laid out before you?
Image sources: infochat.com.ph, wpcentral.com, alltechnologynews.com
