Nokia is coming back to the US market in a big way in 2012. It"s so big, in fact, that it has a code name that it is using to describe its overall plans to relaunch the brand in this country. The code name: "Operation Rolling Thunder."
According to a new story at Bloomberg, the head of Nokia"s operations in the US, Chris Weber, stated that the Operation Rolling Thunder name is Nokia"s internal term for its 2012 US plans, saying, "We will be launching a portfolio of devices in the US across a range of price points, user experience and operators."
That includes the Lumia 710, the first Windows Phone-based device from Nokia that has been officially announced as coming to the US market. The smartphone will be released via T-Mobile on January 11 for the relatively cheap price of $49.99 with a two year contract.
The higher priced Lumia 800, which has already launched in parts of Europe, has yet to get an official launch date or wireless carrier here in the US although it appears that AT&T could be the front runner for that gig.
Nokia has launched a new US office in Sunnyvale, California as it also shuts down its previous US office in White Plains, New York. Weber said that next month"s CES show will be Nokia"s showcase for the US market, saying, " ... we’ll have a very large presence and it’ll be clear that Nokia is back in a quite strong way in the US."