Nokia X 1 Million Preorders Claim Disputed

Within just four days after the Nokia X launched, Nokia was seen bragging on its Weibo account about reaching 1 million preorders in China alone. While factually true at face value, there seems to be more afoot than meets the eye, making the claim sound just a tad exaggerated.

After years of belittling its competition, Nokia has strangely decided to release its own custom-made, non-Google-certified Android smartphone. Although the Nokia X and XL are nothing to write home about hardware-wise, the combination of a reputed Nokia build, an Android OS, and a dirt cheap price tag all sum up to one intriguing device.

In China, where the Nokia X has just gone on preorder, Nokia would have as believe that as much as 1 million people have already signified their intention to own one. And indeed, the numbers from JD.com, who was running the pre-orders, attest to that, but even numbers can be deceiving.

Apparently, preordering only involves logging in and hitting the preorder button and nothing else. No down payment or other forms to fill out. Furthermore, JD.com is running a contest where customers could pre-order once for every Nokia X color available, which means at most four preorders per customer. All in all, the theory that any random person would have four entries under his or her belt sounds like a more plausible scenario than having 1 million unique preorders from people who will actually be paying for the device once it hits the market.

Not that the Nokia X is nothing to line up for. It just might not be the market upstart that Nokia wishes us to believe. While it does offer the familiarity of an Android platform paired with the novelty of Nokia's custom interface and apps, Nokia's history with past operating system as well as its relationship with Windows and the Windows Phone OS might make some people think twice about reaching for this odd duck just yet.

SOURCE: LiveSide.net