According to Michel van der Bel, COO of the Greater China region at Microsoft, sales of Windows Phones have accounted for 7% in China's smartphone segment recently, compared to a 6% share for Apple's iPhones.<p>

The strong sales enjoyed by Lumia phones at present are typical short-term results for the newly launched model, and it remains to be seen whether the sales momentum will continue, commented industry sources.<p>

Given that sales of iPhones totaled over five million units in China in the first quarter of 2012, it would be difficult for Windows Phone models to yield the same results in a quarter, the sources commented.

Though demand for Nokia’s new Lumia smartphones has been spotty across the globe, the Lumia 900 continues to sell reasonably well in the U.S. Retail checks conducted by Raymond James analyst Tavis McCourt suggest that the device is the second-best-selling device at most AT&T stores, after the iPhone.

The delay in the vote had been due largely to Nokia's vocal displeasure in Apple's design, saying in March that Apple explicitly violated ETSI's design guidelines for 4FF — guidelines that specified that a nano-SIM should be shaped in such a way that it would be difficult or impossible for a customer to accidentally jam it into a micro-SIM slot. G&D noted to us that Apple's design has now been modified: a small amount of plastic has been added around the edges of the electrical contacts, making the new nano-SIM just long enough so that it can't be forced lengthwise into an incompatible socket. (The tradeoff, of course, is that the revised design is even less different than the micro-SIM it's designed to replace, saving relatively little room inside the phone for other components.)

After "some challenges early on", Nokia tells us that the app is primed for use when the entry-level Windows Phone eventually hits Asian store at the end of April.

Since my post in June last year Sony Ericsson and Motorola were acquired making the total victims list total 14 companies with Nokia, LG and RIM having joined the “endangered species list”. If the pattern repeats, then RIM and Nokia are in early phases of what promises to be an extended period of pain followed by an exit.</p><p>

What the analysis does not answer is when a vendor loses its independence after beginning loss making. Motorola took 20 quarters; Sony Ericsson 14, Ericsson 8 and Siemens only 7. We cannot tell if or when LG which is still operating after 8 and Nokia, which is now in its fourth and RIM in its second quarter post-loss will lose independence.

Microsoft just released the first version of Skype app in Windows Phone Marketplace last night. While most of us will be enjoying the app, the upcoming Windows Phone Tango devices with 256MB RAM such as Nokia Lumia 610 won’t have access to this most wanted app. In the release notes by Skype team posted yesterday, they have mentioned that your Windows Phone requires a minimum of 512MB of memory to install and use Skype which basically tells us that Windows Phone Tango devices are not supported.

Given that the rating outlook is negative, there is currently limited potential for an upgrade of Nokia's ratings. However, a rating upgrade to Baa2 could be triggered by (i) the Windows devices rivaling the market positions of the Android-based leaders, (ii) by group revenues starting to grow again and operating margin (1.0% Moody's adjusted for 2011) reaching high single digit percent, while (iii) maintaining a net cash position (about EUR3.1bn Moody's adjusted per end of 2011). For an outlook stabilization, (i) the Lumia family of devices needs to prove traction by gaining substantial market share and returning the Smart Devices segment to non-IFRS operating profit, (ii) the Mobile Phones segment should at least stabilize its sales volumes and return to a double-digit contribution margin, and (iii) cash consumption fall to marginal levels.

Looking at product mix, Samsung growth is shown to be almost entirely due to smartphones while Nokia’s stagnant growth seems to be a failure to have any smartphone traction.</p><p>

It’s even more clear when showing the above mixes of devices as percents of total.

Bottom line: If you’re looking for a $100, high-end smartphone, or are a Windows Phone fan who has been waiting for better hardware, the Lumia 900 is worth considering. But the phone had just too many drawbacks in my tests to best its chief competitors.

First, we know that the phones started arriving at AT&T stores over the last two days and that employee training on the Windows Phone OS (and this specific hardware) will take place on March 26th, April 6th and 7th at those outlets.

Next is the big news: AT&T has designated the Nokia Lumia 900 for 'Company Use' meaning all Front Seller employees are eligible to receive the phone at no cost. The trade off is though is that employees have to turn in their current 'Company Use' phones, namely the iPhone and certain Android devices.

Nokia is axing its banking service in India, the only place it was ever launched, as the company continues to scale back to focus on selling mobile phones.

Following trials going back to the start of 2010, leading up to a national launch across India late last year, Nokia Money is shutting down in the face of increasing competition from local rivals. The company's new focus on making mobes has seen a load of periphery projects lopped off.

Part of the problem, said Mr. Elop, is that not only does Nokia have to sell phones, it has to sell the whole ecosystem. And in that space it appears to be doing a lot of the heavy lifting by itself.

For while Microsoft says there are some eight manufacturers signed up to the platform only Nokia has declared it as its principal platform.

On the stand of China's ZTE Corp. at Mobile World Congress, an assistant wasn't too clear how many Windows Mobile phones the company has in its portfolio: less than five, she seemed to think, compared to more than 20 Android devices. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Europe, Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corp., one of the first to market with a Windows Phone device, said sales had been disappointing. Mr. Chou was in town to talk about its new Android phone.

So who is to blame? Emma Mohr-McClune, research director at Current Analysis, laid part of the blame with the carriers. "Carriers all talk about the need to support a third ecosystem, to create better balance in what is effectively an OS (operating system) duopoly. But so far there's been little more than lip-service. Windows Phone support should be more of a strategic priority, and I'd like to see more creativity in the partnership," she said.

The numbers behind the Nokia 808 PureView do boggle the mind. Or at least they should. The populist tech media has leapt up on the '41 Megapixel' figure and generally either misunderstood why it needs to be so high or questioned whether it's real in the first place. Yet that stat is only incidental in the bigger story.

the speed with which Android handsets can be developed seems to be a key value of that operating system and one for which Microsoft does not have a good answer.  Nokia is now one year into its commitment to the Microsoft platform and it has a very limited portfolio to show for it (and limited sales as well.) As a result, Nokia’s Symbian business evaporated very rapidly. More rapidly than the company anticipated.

The dilemma for other vendors may well be how long will it take for them to develop a replacement for their Android portfolio in Windows Phone.

The opportunity cost of this switch is subtle and insidious but may be the root of why we don’t see a stampede toward Microsoft. Conversely, Android's contract-free, implement-at-will availability may be its greatest selling point.

Nokia Lumia 800: delightful smartphone but with a few irritations. If you have one, I recommend that you do not let the battery fully discharge – a challenge since the battery life is not the greatest – since if you do, you may have problems turning the phone on again.

This widely anticipated update for Symbian brings a load of new features. Instead of three home screens, you now will have six. This will let you personalise even more and keep all of your favourite things a press away.

The improved Nokia Belle interface also adds HD video recording capabilities at 30 frames per second, a new notification bar which lets you see if you have any missed calls, messages emails or reminders etc, as well as the ability to turn on and off processes like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Many markets only have room for two leading players - and in the technology platform world, many have only one. On the margins the niche players are little islands. No matter how impressive WP is, if the needle doesn't move, then it too becomes a marginal player. Ecosystems can perish more rapidly than they arise. If Windows Phone is to avoid the same fate as WebOS then the dynamic has to change.

But what might this be?

For many handset vendors, the world has turned upside down. Nokia‘s $40 feature phones are vastly more profitable than Sony Ericsson‘s $200 Android models. This is not how the smartphone revolution was supposed to turn out.

The latest handset industry reports reveal a market still characterized by exceptional smartphone growth – and deep trouble for most vendors. Globally, smartphone volumes mushroomed by more than 50% YoY in 4Q11. Feature phone sales continued a gentle decline. But in 2012, volumes are still likely to be close to the billion unit mark. Most vendors fled this billion unit market 1-3 years ago, leaving it essentially to Nokia and a cluster of Asian white label firms.

Nokia Oyj (NOK1V)’s first phones running Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) software may have sold enough units last year to help rebuild investor confidence in the Finnish company, which lost $19 billion in market value in 2011.