Nokia reveals Lumia pricing, faces backlash

Nokia's new Lumia 920 handset is being priced up to 25 percent higher than the rival Samsung Galaxy S III, risking a consumer backlash that could endanger its attempt to restore its fortunes.

Analysts said Nokia will struggle to explain the premium on the Lumia, seen as potentially its last chance to break into the lucrative smartphone segment and catch Apple's iPhone and a string of other popular phones like the fast-selling Galaxy.

The Lumia, which with its rounded edges and colourful covers look similar to its predecessors, was unveiled earlier this month and drew a thumbs down from many analysts who said it lacked the "wow" factor to challenge its rivals.

It uses Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 software while Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S III operates on Google's Android system, the platform favoured by many smartphone makers.

"Windows Phone is still largely an unknown to consumers - they would probably expect to pay less if they are taking a risk," said Ovum analyst Nick Dillon.

"Hardware-wise they are pretty similar, it would be hard for Nokia to justify that extra cost to consumers."

Windows Phone has just around 3 percent of the global smartphone market, while the Android platform controls two-thirds of sales. Apple has around a quarter.

Nokia said Swedish carriers would sell the Lumia 920 for around 5,700 Swedish krona ($A836), excluding subsidies. This compares with 4,515 krona ($A662) asked for a Galaxy S III at Expansys, one of the leading online phone stores in Europe.

In Italy, the Lumia 920 will sell for €599 ($A740), compared with €530 ($A655) for the S III, which has been on the market for four months.

The S III retails for €530 in Germany, where Nokia will ask €649 for the Lumia. In Russia the Lumia will sell for 24,990 roubles ($A772), some 10 percent above Galaxy S III.

Nokia Australia declined to provide local pricing until October. The Samsung Galaxy S III sells locally for $A899 outright.

It confirmed yesterday both the Lumia 920 and 820 would arrive in Australia in October, through three of Australia's telcos.

"Nokia will find it difficult to command a premium over Samsung's Galaxy S III which is the pricing benchmark for a non-Apple flagship smartphone," said Ben Wood, head of research at British consultancy CCS Insight.

Once the world's biggest mobile phone maker, Nokia fell behind rivals in smartphones and has racked up more than 3 billion euros in operating losses in the last 18 months.

Samsung sold 20 million of the Galaxy S III handsets in three months.

Nokia's volatile shares were 3.2 percent higher at 2.06 euros by 1305 GMT, regaining some of the lost ground from the previous trading session.