One million Nokia 5800 XpressMusic handsets sold in 3 weeks

Whilst Nokia might be cutting production on some of its high-end phones, it's 5800 XpressMusic handset has proved a hit with sales of over 1 million worldwide in the space of three weeks. The device, Nokia's first real touchscreen phone, comes 15 months after the iPhone demonstrated there was a market for such a phone--albeit that the original Apple handset took over two months to break through the 1 million barrier.

The company has already unveiled a cut-down version of the 5800, the Nokia 5630 XpressMusic, which will likely be priced around €200 and is said to be slightly slimmer than the 5800, but able to store up to 3000 music tracks using a 4GB memory card.

The 5800 should be released in the US by late February, although whether it will boost overall sales might be in question given its US$400 price tag. Nokia has yet to announce which US mobile operator will offer the 5800 XpressMusic, and its success may rely on how operator's position Nokia's "Comes With Music" service to compete with the popular iTunes service from Apple.

For more on this story:
T3, Stuff.Tv and Wired

Related stories:
Has Nokia snubbed European operators over Tube/5800 launch date?
GyPSii adds support for Nokia 5800 XpressMusic
Cracked: Nokia's Comes with Music DRM
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic gets FCC approval