Nokia’s Lumia 920 to Sell for $50 Less Than Apple’s iPhone 5

October 28, 2012

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In designing the Lumia 920, Nokia (NYSE: NOK) produced one of the most expensive smartphones ever conceived. Consumers will have to spend a small fortune to take one home without a contract. But in America, AT&T (NYSE: T) will reportedly sell the Lumia 920 for $149 with a two-year contract — $50 less than the cheapest iPhone 5.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the price announcement came from a Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) pre-order listing that the company published over the weekend. As of Monday morning, that listing appears to have been removed. A search for “Lumia 920” leads to some unusual results — dozens of keyboards from Logitech (NASDAQ: LOGI).

Just a few short months ago, AT&T had all but abandoned Nokia devices. The cellular carrier made it difficult for the Finnish manufacturer to sell its devices in America. AT&T, which tended to favor Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android platform, was reluctant to promote Nokia handsets in its stores. That, coupled with an immeasurable amount of hype for Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 5, posed new challenges for Nokia.

Before unveiling the Lumia 920, Nokia produced a teaser video to promote its mysterious device. That video (and its eventual follow-up) sparked a controversy after it was revealed that Nokia had shot the footage with a professional camera and not the Lumia 920 as indicated in the clip.

In August, Nokia attempted to raise capital by selling old assets that the firm no longer needed. The company also rejected speculation that it would switch to Android and reaffirmed its support for Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) new mobile platform, Windows Phone 8.

Despite Nokia’s troubles, a recent study showed that the company dominated the Windows Phone market. By working with AT&T to reduce the price of its flagship phone in America, Nokia hopes that it can maintain its dominance.

If price is the deciding factor, however, the Lumia 920 might be in trouble. HTC is selling its leading Windows Phone 8 device, the 8X, for $99 on BestBuy.com.