Nokia Lumia Sales Strong, Asha Stronger

Nokia released a fourth quarter preliminary financial statement last week and it had some interesting numbers about their smartphone sales. They sold 4.4 million Lumia phones in the quarter, but 9.3 million of their lower-end Asha phones. This was a substantial increase over the 6.5 million Ashas sold in the 3rd quarter.

In developed countries, Nokia's older Symbian operating systems went into steep decline years ago, which led to their adoption of Windows Phone for the future. But they still sell Symbian phones, including their Asha line.

As Raymond James analyst Tavis McCourt says to AllThingsD, Nokia has a strong opportunity with Asha phones in India, Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America, but Android is sweeping through these markets, cutting down everything in its path.

The assumption among analysts like McCourt is that, for as strong as it is now, Asha's days are numbered in the face of the Android wave in the developing world. But it can provide a some cushion for Nokia as it continues to build Lumia sales.