Nokia sold record 8 million Lumia phones in Q3: report

Ahead of the Nokia Lumia 1520 launch, there is some good news for the company. Sales of the Lumia smartphones have hit an all time high of eight million.

According the Wall Street Journal, which quoted people familiar with matter, "sales of Nokia's line of Lumia phones hit least eight million Lumias, up from 7.4 million in the second quarter and far more than double the tally it reported in the same period a year earlier." The Wall Street Journal has exclusively managed to access the sales numbers for Nokia.

Nokia will announce its company results on 29 October. While eight million might sound like a tiny number when compared to players like Samsung and Apple, it is a pretty strong result for a company that is trying hard to establish Windows Phone 8 as the third alternative in the smartphone ecosystem wars.

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Nokia Lumia 920 is seen in this file photo. Reuters[/caption]

As far as Q2 of 2013 was concerned, Windows Phones have atleast managed to beat BlackBerry in the race for the third operating system. According to IDC Windows Phone was three in the operating systems' list and has finally surpassed BlackBerry.

"Last quarter we witnessed Windows Phone shipments surpassing BlackBerry and the trend has continued into the second quarter," said Ryan Reith, Program Manager with IDC's Mobility Tracker Programs in a press statement. IDC also noted that Nokia has clearly been the driving force behind the Windows Phone platform.

Nokia accounted for 81.6 percent of all Windows Phone smartphone shipments during Q2 of 2013 adds the report. A total of 8.7 million Windows Phones were shipped in Q2 of 2013.

If Nokia does manage to ensure increase in sales volume, it could prove the critics wrong. Nokia is expected to release the Lumia 1520 phablet tomorrow.