AT&T to introduce the Lumia 900 with impressive marketing rivaling the iPhone

By last updated

AT&T has revealed that Lumia 900 marketing plans (combined with Nokia and Microsoft) will best any product they've launched before - including the famous iPhone. In an interview with CNET (opens in new tab), AT&T device head Jeff Bradley, said that it'll be a notch up on anything the company has attempted previously.  We met with AT&T reps early today and have no doubt that AT&T's efforts to market the new Windows Phones should be a full court press.

But should we be surprised? The Lumia 900 on AT&T is Microsoft's (and Nokia's) best chance of survival in the competitive mobile market. Windows Phone has been performing arguably well with Nokia marketing the 710 and 800 on a global scale, but the Lumia 900 is the big gun for the U.S.

We previously covered how the Lumia 900 will be given "hero status" in the AT&T mobile arsenal. So how will they go about it? How will the stores convince people that Windows Phone is a solid choice against the iPhone and Android?  AT&T has told us that we can expect to see banners in windows of AT&T stores and Windows Phone walls featuring the TITAN II and Lumia 900.  In a nutshell, we were told AT&T stores are going to look like Nokia stores.

As well as the promotional material, we can confirm that we're likely to see demonstration tables, accessories (including skins, Monster Headsets, third-party cases, screen protectors, and more) and -of course- salestaff training. Nokia will be training employees to compliment the web training they'll receive from AT&T. This will hopefully result in more platform awareness internally as well as increasing the Windows Phone recommendation chance rate to customers.

Let's see what April 8th brings us, I would recommend we strap ourselves in. Then again, it could be a belly flop. Fingers crossed that it wont be and AT&T / Nokia / Microsoft get this right.

Rich Edmonds
Rich Edmonds

Rich Edmonds is Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him over on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.
50 Comments
  • I can't wait. I will be at my AT&T store first thing Friday to preorder so I can pick it up next Friday if that bit of information proves true. Lets just hope AT&T does a better job of pushing Nokias updates out than they do with their other phones. I read earlier Nokia has released 4 updates in roughly 3 months to the 800 so they are at least showing they are quick to fix issues but if AT&T doesnt push them out then it is all for nothing.
  • Fire sell first week sales everybody that buys a new Lumia 900 will recieve free Xbox 4GB consoles 1st week only 2nd week who ever buys a Lumia 900 will recieve 6 months free of Zune Pass. 3rd week who ever buys Lumia 900 will recieve 3 months worth of Xbox Live 4th week who ever buys  Lumia 900 will get 1 months worth of Office 365.... Perks that only Microsoft can do. Nokia will bring the advertisiment, AT&T will bring the sales support Microsoft should bring the perks.
  • Sir, I pray to every single God ever that this is true... If it is.... I will have explosive diarhea... My just over 3 years old xbox got the red ring and I'm buying  the new nokia and if this is true, I will forever love Microsoft
     
  • Damn, that would be insane. I can't believe MS would do that but you never know. They would sell a million phones the first week for sure!
  • So those of us holding out for a white one get shafted?
  • If they have a trial policy and the white one is really coming out the 22nd, maybe you can exchange the colors and just pay a restocking fee or something and still get whichever deal
  • As long as the sales reps buy into this it has the potential to drive Windows Phone into the mainstream. It'll be interesting to see if the tables get turned on Android & Apple where reps are shoving Windows Phones on the public instead of the junk they peddle today.
  • Nice! Let's hope a push for something a little more diverse in the mobile marketspace will get some more innovations happening again.
  • Wow! Microsoft and Nokia have decided this is the time. They sure have a lot riding on this--massive ramifications for both of them. Fortune favours the bold.
  • Why didn't they do this a year ago? Or October of 2010?
    Kind of stinks this "Nokia or bust" strategy...
  • Actually this is Nokia's first large forway into the American market after some time. If you have been watching events unfold across the pond they have been doing similar things. so it is more we have to aggressively market our phones to actually get market share. why didnt they do this a year ago or in 2010, well mainly because Nokia didnt have any phones ready. also because the other manufacturers will having windows phone devices arent all that supportive of them. they see their big money in Android where they are dominanting. So I would call it a large global roll out of the Nokia WP phones with them finally releasing these phones in the states.
  • I know Nokia didn't have anything ready. Still ATT and MS could have done this a while ago. But anything to increase that .4% market share!
  • Really... Massive advertising for halfhearted vendors??? What drug possessed you to write this;)
  • It's not about Nokia itself. It's more "Why didn't ATT promote WP7 phones in 2010".
  • Why didn't they do this a year ago?  Because the devices, services and accessories did not differentiate the Windows Phone devices from the Android and iPhone devices.  The Lumia 800 and 900 have different enough designs to stand out.  Nokia has a lot of great services to go with their cool devices and I am looking forward to snatching up one of those Nokia HD headphones coming out.  
    In short, the devices that came out before just didn't measure up to the other offerings at the time. 
     
     
  • There's no way this will flop. Not a chance. You can sell a bag of dog poop if you advertise right. Windows Phone is a stellar product, and good products eventually perform well in the market. This is it. It's Windows Phone's turn.
  • I'm with J4rrod
  • Outstanding news! I'll admit to being slightly angry that Palm & Sprint couldn't pull this off with the launch of the Pre; webOS deserved better. But full speed ahead for Microsoft and Nokia!
  • The flop of the pre was a heart breaking event
    i still remember the "creepy girl" ads, webos deserved much better Hopefully it doesn't happen with wp7
  • That's all good. WP7 still not shining on quality games. Apps have been compensated by built in OS functionality. But the games are sub par. Forget graphic intensive games. What about temple run or cut the rope. Microsoft, better be ready to answer that.
  • It's coming, cut the rope is already include in win8cp. And can you people stop blaming MS for companies not backing them. For instance,Dell, Verizon and Sprint made corporate decisions not to either carry any more WP7's or not to stock any at all. MS had nothing to do with those decisions.
  • I was told by an att rep today that they are going to start selling them on April 6th. He and his coworker were pretty adoment about it. i questioned the 8th and 9th but they kept saying the 6th. This was at an Att store in Denver, CO. he also said Nokia will be releasing a green phone, too. not aure if it's on launch day or later, though.
  • Man this is going to be crazy! I just wish T-Mobile would finally get a high-end offering like this. Don't get me wrong, I love my Radar 4g but for real, this is one of those phones that your Android and iPhone friends envy.:)
  • T-mobile will get a high end phone in the fall for Apollo. They're also in the process of refarmimg their network to the PCS band to support any GSM phone
  • I've had a Focus since day 1 and I am pretty sure I will get a 900, but I want to see/feel it first. I just went to my closest ATT store in Pasadena, CA and discovered that only one salesrep has the phone, and she was not working today. The rep I talked to proudly said, "most of us are impartial to Android and don't want to try anything else." I did my beat to persuade him otherwise, but I hope corporate has grand plans to also convince their sales staff.
  • I have had the Focus, too, since day 1. I got to check one out today and it's night and day on quality. It's a solid device! The camera is 10x better. The screen clarity (dpi) is comparable to iphone's retina display. The iPhone was still a little better but not by much. I was worried about the clarity but I was really surprised! It really makes the focus look sad. Lol
  • Also, do we know yet when other stores such as Best Buy and Costco will get the 900?
  • This sounds good.. Even though I'm on sprint. I'm proud..hope Nokia starts pushing to other carriers....:D:D:D
  • 3 BILLIONAIRES money talks bullshit walks so Apple and Android get the hell on lol the top dogs in power are here
  • I've been waiting for this since day 1. Thank you God!!!!!!
  • mrolympia74, you are so right. This is what every lover of Windows Phone (any of us, lol) has been waiting for for forever!
  • Staff needs training badly. Had a rep the other day tell me the new Nokia phones are compatible with windows. Seriously? They have their work cut out for them. Educating people is a great way to start.
  • I called my local ATT store to see if they had any Lumias on display ... the response was not yet, but most staff in the store has one and can show you any time! Amazing. I never thought I would see the day when the rep knew what I was talking about AND willing to show it off.
  • You guys might think I'm crazy. But I am getting 2 phone (Cyan and  Black) for me and my wife. Just becaue the price is a steal, I ordered 2 Nokia Purity In-Ear headsets by Monseter from Amazon both Cyan & black, valued at $214.00 including shipping. 
    One would know it's a great deal when the headsets are more expensive than the Flagship device. 
    AT&T / Nokia / Microsoft - Take my money already... 
    Here is the video I took playing with the deivce last weekend at a local AT&T store in NJ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQqXw9FYr3g
     
  • Lucky you!  I started to laugh when the ATT rep said "I hope you don't take off with the phone" funny.
  • Hey guys checkout these pictures http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?p=8302478#post8302478
  • Very Nice find. Would WPC like to write an article about the pics?
  • Nice pictures!
  • For the cut the rope fans
     
    http://www.cuttherope.ie/
    Wait for it to load, it takes a bit the 1st time. Change from drag to cut to click to cut in options. Have fun!
  • I seriously hope that this campaign is huge, but as many times as we've been burned by WP marketing I have to say "I will believe it when I see it" now, I hope that I do in fact get to see it, so... Please let this finally come to fruition. PLEASE!
  • For stores still not quite up to par on staff training, we should dress in Nokia wear, and just show up and be like "I'm here to train you staff personally for windows phone. Can we organize a meeting in one of you vacant rooms please?"
  • lol. that's a brilliant idea if it's necessary!
  • I think we should take over and market the WP ourselves. We know better than they are. They are a bunch of Android brainless.
  • Yeiyahhh
  • This phone deserves this kind of big promotion !
  • I can't wait! I stopped by the AT&T store in Chevy Chase and two of the employees had the 900 and it's a beautiful phone! I'm going to hold off for a white 900.
  • Definitely gonna watch this closely as any decisions Verizon night make about wp will surely be a result if the at&t campaign
  • Stopped into a local att because I thought they would have demo units set up. They did not. But, he said he has had his for about a total of three hours. So I did get to toy around with the phone.  I brought up how i believed this "marketing blitz which, to me, hasnt even started yet.  So, I really would not be surpised if opening day is not even worth talking about. I will be waiting for the official reviews before I make the jump from my verizon Trophy to att Lumia 900. I really want to. Personally, I am excited and will have one by week two.
  • I have one. It's pretty cool so far.
  • I guess I'm the mood spoiler here.
    While I'm sure the 900 is a great piece of hardware it still lacks a hi-rez display (say vs. the new 720P Android and Retina iPhone).  Also,  with these handsets on only ATT it is hard to see them gaining huge market share without VZW or Sprint.  Finally, still haven't seen a definitive answer from MS about WP8 - are all 2nd Gen (Titan II, Lumias, etc.) going to upgrade to WP8?
    Unless (or until) WP comes to VZW with LTE and a higher rez screen (hopefully 720P) it is a non-starter for anyone on VZW or thinking of going to VZW.  In addition, while I know the focus of WP7 is not on apps there are way too many things that I use that aren't available on WP7 - banking, travel, sports (huge holes here - ESPN, NHL, NFL) that just make it a non-starter for me and many others that I would recommend it to.  Also, despite supposedly improving sales I have yet to see a single WP in use by anyone I know - tons of iPhones (it's hard to see many iFans going to WP especially since most of them just bought iPhone 4S and are looking forward to LTE iPhone 5) and the top notch Android Handsets (Skyrocket HD LTE and Galaxy S2/S3) are still under contract.
    My other point is that MS may have missed the window against Android.  In my mind (I just bought my first Android device last year) you can look at Android 2.3 Gingerbread as DOS with Windows 3.11 and Ice Cream Sandwich is Win 95 (which brought MS almost up to parity with Mac OS).  I think they have a tough road.  Finally, while some of the WP phone supporters talk about WP as a middle ground between iOS (closed) and Android (wide open) I think it is about 90% closed and if you don't use Microsoft Services (Live account, Zune, etc) then you miss much of the advantage of WP7.
    Personally, I'm not sure there is room for a significant #3 operating system (say, greater than 10%) with where iOS and Android are right now.  JMHO.