Nokia CEO Stephen Elop spoke about his continued confidence in Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform during a conference call with investors on Thursday, and blamed the company’s lackluster sales on the sellers. “The challenge in all of this is breaking through the strength Android and Apple have in a retail environment,” Elop said. “We aren’t getting the traction we prefer.” The executive noted, however, that the troubled Finnish handset maker needs to “compete with Android aggressively,” and pointed to the low-end smartphone market. “The low-end price point war is an important part of that,” Elop said, adding that Nokia “absolutely” plans to offer Windows Phones at a lower price than the Lumia 610. “We had plans already to go lower than the 610,” he said, and thanks to Microsoft’s engineering teams Nokia has identified “ways to go even further than we anticipated.” Microsoft is expected to announce the future of its mobile operating system at its Windows Phone Summit on June 20th. It is rumored that Nokia Maps will replace Bing Maps on Windows Phone 8 and include 3D navigation.
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