Rumour Mill: O2 reverses course, agrees to sell Nokia's Lumia phones in Germany

O2 Germany is selling Nokia's latest Windows Phone-based Lumia smartphones despite O2 UK refusing to agree  to distribution terms with Nokia, according to the blog WMPowerUser.

According to the blog, which cited emails that it received, the operator has reached an agreement with Nokia that will see O2 Germany retail stores being rewarded for Lumia sales over the forthcoming holiday period. Stores that achieve high Lumia sales volumes could receive thousands of euros in bonus payments from Nokia.

Sources claim that O2 Germany will make the Lumia range its "major holiday season strategy." Nokia is also planning to deliver marketing material to all O2 Direct stores in Germany, including working Lumia displays stands. The operator is said to have Lumia promotional material ready to distribute across Germany, and has scheduled advertising slots on TV and in newspapers. The first Lumia handsets (in black only) are on sale now, with other colours becoming available in December when O2 Germany is expected to make another marketing push.

Separately, Nokia's new head of its French operations, Paul Amsellem, let slip that by June 2012 the company will have a tablet device running Windows 8, according to a report in Les Echos. However, a Nokia spokesman told Reuters that the company has "not announced any specific plans as it relates to tablets."

Amsellem also stated that the new Lumia smartphone range would help it regain market share, pointing to the competitive price being offer by Bouygues Telecom of €99 euros for the Lumia 800, against €129 for a Samsung Galaxy S2 and €199 for an iPhone 4S. He said the Lumia 800 is "the equivalent of the BMW 5 Series. We will soon have a full range with a Series 7 and Series 3," indicating that Nokia will broaden its portfolio at both the high-end and low-end.

For more:
- see this WMPowerUser post
- see this Les Echos article (translated via Google Translate)

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