I think Microsoft’s Windows 10 Mobile flagships surprised us all with how attractive they looked at the official presentation, and I think many more of us are hoping to upgrade than earlier expected.
Unfortunately we can report today that in USA the handsets will be exclusive to AT&T, and not available via T-Mobile stores.
CNET quotes Tuula Rytila, Microsoft corporate vice president of marketing as saying:
“It’s the best distribution for this family of devices,” saying the handsets will receive more focussed promotion when exclusive to AT&T.
The devices will of course also be available unlocked (and able to work on T-Mobile) via Microsoft Stores and will be broadly available in Europe.
Unlocked the Lumia 950 will retail for $549 and the 950 XL will cost $649.
Update: CNET has now retracted part of their story, writing:
Correction, 1:54 p.m. PT:The deal between AT&T and Microsoft for the Lumia 950 is not an exclusive one.
I think we can assume the Lumia 950 XL will likely remain exclusive, and that the Lumia 950 may come to T-Mobile has earlier rumoured, but that Verizon will still remain uninvolved.