Close

Nokia (NOK) Ramps on Speculation of New Flagship Phone for Verizon (VZ)

December 18, 2012 9:00 AM EST
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is pushing higher yet again early Tuesday after CEO Stephen Elop signaled in a CNET interview that a flagship phone for Verizon (NYSE: VZ) - like the Lumia 920 exclusive deal for AT&T - may be in the works.

Commenting on why the Lumia 920 is an exclusive on AT&T, Elop comments:

Elop: One of the things we had learned with the first launch was being very narrow would yield better results for us. We take a product and go exclusive with a particular carrier. In a market where subsidy and marketing dollars are heavy, we encourage them to promote it as a hero product, and use the subsidy to drive down the pricing to a competitive point. It also gives you access to in-store resources.

If you get a concentrated effort, you get far more parallel investment and cooperation. As we did the assessment, we came to the conclusion that working with them from the start would yield the best results.

There might be another similar hero exercise with a different operator. In this particular moment, the opportunity with the Lumia 920 presented well with AT&T. And we're pleased to have just restarted our relationship with Verizon. We are planning a lot of exciting things with Verizon as well."


Q: So does that mean a flagship phone for Verizon is in the works?

Elop: We are planning a lot of exciting things with Verizon as well.

The firm CNET interview with Elop can be found here.

Shares of Nokia are up 4.5 percent to $4.13.


Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!

You May Also Be Interested In





Related Categories

Insiders' Blog, Momentum Movers, Trader Talk