Although the Nokia Lumia 630 has now been introduced as the new entry-level Windows Phone 8.1 device, the Lumia 520 that it indirectly replaces continues to be sold around the world. The 520 has been on sale for well over a year now and in that time, it has seen its price fall to extraordinarily low levels.
Generally available for around $80, the Lumia 520 has been sold for as little as $39.99 off-contract during special promotions - an incredible bargain for one of our favourite Windows Phone devices.
Today, at the company"s Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner revealed that the Lumia 520 is "the best-selling smartphone in its price band globally", with sales of over 12 million units so far. "We"re going to continue to drive that," he added.
He described Nokia"s entire range of devices as "incredible", and spoke about Microsoft"s acquisition of the company earlier this year. "Our goal in moving into first-party hardware," he said, "is to continue to drive and accelerate the [Windows Phone] ecosystem... The Lumia market share this past year reached double-digits in a lot of markets, and that"s fantastic."
Turner also reiterated Microsoft"s commitment to working with its hardware partners - including many new brands which it has signed up this year - to grow Windows Phone even further. Earlier, he revealed that the company"s share of the total global devices market - including PCs, smartphones, tablets and other connected devices - is just 14%.