WPDang has got insider news that Nokia is accelerating its moves in China. The Lumia 800c, previously expected to be shipping on April 15, will actually hit the shelves on the first Saturday after the formal launch event (happening on March 28). Check your calendar and you will find it March 31, half a month earlier than the original plan.
It’s well worth a note that the special early bird treat is only for Lumia *800c*, which is a CDMA 2000 phone tailor made for China Telecom. The generic Lumia 800 (WCDMA) won’t be so lucky, with shipping date being April 15, or even later.
In China, there are a total of three cellular carriers, all state-owned, each controls a different kind of network to ease the competition a bit. China Telecom has CDMA 2000, China Mobile is struggling with the China homegrown TD-SCDMA, while China Unicom has been enjoying the internationally popular WCDMA.
With the half month advantage, it looks like we know whose BFF Nokia is.
Although slightly slower than HTC (the Triumph), Nokia has got carrier subsidy from China Telecom. From where I’m standing, it seems to be a great trade. There’s one concern though. Recently China Telecom has got iPhone 4S, and is currently quite busy promoting it. Hopefully Lumia 800c will get its fair share of love.
