Good news for Microsoft: Nokia Lumia sales are on the rise. Now, the bad news: Many of those sales appear to be coming from cheaper devices.
Nokia Lumia sales hit a record 8.8 million in the third quarter, a 19% increase from the previous quarter and a huge spike from the 2.5 million Lumia devices it sold in the same quarter last year. The company credited that increase to the broader range of products in the Lumia line and particularly to the popularity of the lower-cost Lumia 520, which was introduced earlier this year.
See also: Nokia's First Tablet Comes in Just One Flavor: LTE
That momentum may bode well for Microsoft, which struck a deal last month to acquire Nokia's handset division for $7.2 billion. The two companies had previously been in a strategic partnership, in which Nokia used Microsoft's software for its smartphones.
That said, Lumia sales are still well behind competitors. Apple reported sales of 33.8 million iPhones for the September quarter and one study suggests that Samsung sold more than 88 million smartphones in the quarter.
Nokia stock was up more than 8% in early trading Tuesday following the earnings report.
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