Nokia is expanding the availability of its first Lumia tablet through an online channel in Australia starting Tuesday, and in stores starting next week.
Nokia, one of the most popular smartphone making companies around the world, is bringing its first Lumia tablet to the Australian market. The tablet is not just making a late entry but also carries a ridiculously high price tag. The Microsoft-owned Finnish smartphone maker will start selling the Lumia 2520 tablet through an exclusive online channel in Australia starting Tuesday, followed by a nationwide store launch, May 13.
Nokia launched the Lumia 2520 alongside the Lumia 1520 in October last year. The sales of the tablet in the U.S. began in November through AT&T for $399.99 with a two-year contract and $199.99 if clubbed with Lumia 925, 1020 or 1520 purchase. The tablet is available on all major carriers in the U.S., but has not sold in great quantities. With the expansion to the Australian market, Nokia is looking to improve the sales of its 4G-enabled tablet, but the high price factor might hold off some buyers in the country.
The Nokia Lumia 2520 will start sales exclusively on Telstra's online website for AU$840. The Nokia partner in Australia will start selling the tablet in stores May 13. The color option will be limited to black, as the red variant will not be available on launch. Telstra is offering its monthly installment plans for the pricey tablet under its 24-month $35 Telstra Tablet or Mobile Broadband Business Member Plans. Customers will pay additional $25 toward device repayment and get 4GB of data charged at 85c per MB as a part of the monthly plan that adds up to $60/month.
Telstra, Australia's largest telecommunications and media company, will also offer the attachable Power Keyboard by Nokia. The full-sized keyboard for the Lumia 2520 tablet will feature two USB ports and a gesture track pad with five-hour battery boost. Customers can add the extra accessory under Telstra's $10-per-month Accessory Payment plan for 24 months or for $240 outright. The tablet cover comes in both Black and Red color options.
Nokia Lumia 2520 features a 10.1-inch Full HD display, a 6.7-megapixel camera with Zeiss lens, a massive 8,000 mAh battery, a full Windows Office suite including Outlook based on Windows RT 8.1 and a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor clocked at 2.2GHz. It comes with 32GB onboard storage and expandable up to 64 GB via microSD. The tablet competes with the likes of Microsoft's own Surface 2 and Apple's iPad Air.
