Microsoft launched its 4G-enabled Lumia 930 smartphone in Taiwan Thursday, marking the second Windows phone released in Taiwan since the software giant acquired Nokia's handset division.
The Lumia 930 will be available from Chunghwa Telecom Company, Taiwan's largest mobile service provider, on July 16 with a price tag of NT$18,900 (US$630) for a contract-free model. The 5-inch device runs Windows Phone 8.1 and sports a 20-megapixel PureView camera with a lens by German optical systems maker Carl Zeiss AG.
Microsoft launched the mid-range Lumia 635 in June with Chunghwa Telecom and plans to make more Lumia series phones compatible with the country's new 4G LTE network through software upgrades, said Jacob Chen, general manager of Taiwan sales and marketing at Microsoft Devices Group.
Gary Chan, the group's head of pan-Asia marketing, said Windows Phone volume in the Asia-Pacific region excluding Japan grew 105% last year thanks to strong support from operators, retailers and developers.
The Lumia brand name, however, will no longer be used for Windows-based smartphones in the future as Microsoft plans to announce a new brand name by the end of this year, Chan added.
Nokia's feature phones will continue to feature the iconic name of the Finnish phone maker as guaranteed by a 10-year licensing deal with its parent company, he said.
In April this year, Microsoft announced it had completed its acquisition of the Nokia Devices and Services business after approval was granted by Nokia shareholders and governmental regulatory agencies around the world.
With the Nokia mobile phone business, Microsoft said it will target the affordable mobile devices market–a US$50 billion annual opportunity–delivering the first mobile experience to 1 billion people while introducing Microsoft services to new customers worldwide.
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