Nokia Lumia 920 pricing revealed; higher than the Samsung Galaxy S III

Pricing for the soon to be released Nokia Lumia 920 smartphone has been revealed for the selected European markets. The company published the pricing data on its local websites on Thursday, with Lumia being cheaper than the Apple's iPhone 5, but more expensive than Samsung's Galaxy S III smartphone.

According to a Reuters report, the Nokia Lumia 920 32GB variant will be sold at around 5,700 Swedish Crowns, which is around Rs. 46,116. It's notable the 16GB Samsung Galaxy S III in the country is around 4,515 Crowns, while the 32GB iPhone 5 is due to sell 6,995 Crowns.

In Italy, the Lumia 920 has been priced at 599 Euros (Rs. 40,925 approximately), against the 16GB Samsung S III's 529 Euros. In Germany, the Nokia Lumia 920 for 649 Euros (Rs. 44,352 approx.). It sells the iPhone for 820 Euros, the 32GB Galaxy S III for 740 Euros and the 16GB Galaxy for 530 Euros.

Nokia has pinned its turnaround hopes on its new Lumia series smartphones, featuring Windows Phone 8. However, experts believe the high pricing for the Windows Phone 8-based Nokia Lumia 920 could jeopardise the company's efforts to catch up with the competitors. Experts suggest the pricing of the Lumia 920, which is 10 to 25 percent higher than Samsung's Galaxy S III, also risks a consumer backlash.

Reuters quoted Ovum analyst, Nick Dillon elaborating: "Hardware-wise they are pretty similar, it would be hard for Nokia to justify that extra cost to consumers. Windows Phone is still largely an unknown to consumers - they would probably expect to pay less if they are taking a risk."

"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," says Ben Wood, head of research at British consultancy CCS Insight.

The pricing of the Lumia 920 puts the device in direct competition against high-end smartphones such as the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S III. However, the S III has been in the market for quite sometime now, while the iPhone 5 will be rolling out in different markets very soon.

As far as the Indian market goes, the high-end devices like the Samsung Galaxy S III, Galaxy S II,HTC One X and Apple's iPhone 4S are priced between Rs. 30,000 Rs. 45,000. If reports are to believed, the iPhone 5 will also fall under the same price range. The Indian market has been traditionally price sensitive, even for the premium devices. Nokia, on the other hand, has a reputation of giving out affordable devices to the Indian consumers. However, it is a little unlikely that the Indian consumers will be willing to shell out more money the Lumia series, unless the Windows Phone 8 platform proves to much more compelling than Android and iOS.

What do you think of the Nokia Lumia 920's pricing? Has Nokia made a mistake? Will it correct it before launch? Let us know in the comments section below: