Launch delays are quite common in the tech industry, but there are times when the slowed down release of certain devices is really not good for the sales of the specific handset. Take the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2. This Windows Mobile smart phone was supposed to launch late last year, the device got pushed back, one week at a time until it was bumped all the way to January of this year. It was a bad move for Sony; the device was dropped from operator lineups as it missed its target launch date –and place in the holiday phone list.
The same might not befall the Nokia N8, but the delay will no doubt be bad for the handset. It has been confirmed that the Nokia N9 –which shares similar features but is supposedly using a superior operating system, will be coming before the end of the year. The N8 was originally meant to come out earlier this April, giving the two devices a pretty wide berth in between.
Now, with the launch of the N8 being pushed back, it seems that people are beginning to lose interest in the device. First, the Symbian^3 operating system is starting to look more and more transitional than it should be (mostly due to the focus of Nokia on the new MeeGo OS and the recent leaks of a Symbian^4 OS). Second, the longer it takes for the N8 to come out, the more reason people will have to hold out for an N9 instead.
Russian version