Verizon and AT&T have finally started selling smartphones based on Windows Phone 8 by Nokia and HTC. Verizon’s official website is now taking pre-orders for the HTC 8X and the Nokia Lumia 822, both of which run on Windows Phone 8. Both phones support LTE and are expected to be available by Thanksgiving. The HTC 8X is a relatively high-end device and will be available for $199.99 on a two year contract. The Nokia 822, on the other hand, will cost $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate. AT&T has already begun selling the HTC 8X (available in yellow and blue), the Lumia 920 and the Lumia 820 since last Friday.
While Lumia 820 will be available for $49.99, Lumia 920 will cost $99.99. The HTC 8X, available for $199.99, comes in two variants; the blue model with a storage capacity of 16 GB and the yellow model with 8 GB of storage space. Along with Verizon and AT&T, T-Mobile is also set to offer two phones running on the Windows Phone 8 platform; the HTC 8X and Nokia’s Lumia 810, available for $149.99 and $99.99 respectively, starting from the 14th of November.
Microsoft is making its second push in the smartphone industry in the last three years and is desperate to gain some traction against rival operating systems like Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS. The fact that Windows Phone 7 did not do as well as Microsoft expected does not seem to have prevented the company from taking another shot with Windows Phone 8. It is in fact hoping that redesigning and innovatively promoting their devices will help increase sales. Carriers like AT&T are also pushing Windows Phone 8 hard with devices like the Lumia 920 following the failure of the Lumia 900 in making any dent in the market.
By introducing the Surface tablet, Microsoft is also looking at entering the Windows 8 hardware line-up, consequently competing with its own hardware partners like Asus, Acer and Samsung. Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 also share the same kernel and design, which Microsoft is hoping will lead to greater recognition and awareness of Windows Phone 8 as sales of Windows 8 increase in the coming months.
