Lumia 950, 950 XL and 550 may have been held back in Brazil due to economic crisis

Brazil is one of the most important markets for Microsoft Mobile. Despite this however it has not yet seen the Lumias 950, 950 XL and 550 – which were released in some markets back in November/early December.

Now some sources have informed us that Microsoft is holding back the release of the devices due to the difficult moment Brazil is facing in its economy. The country’s currency (Real) has highly devalued against the American dollar, which would cause the device to arrive at really high prices. One employee informed us that, as the 950 and 950 XL are also not produced in Brazil and the government has also increased even more the import duties, they would cost as high as almost R$ 4000,00 (around U$ 1000,00). That’s 5 times the average monthly minimum wages. For comparison, the Lumia 930 was released costing R$ 1899,00 and the Lumia 1520 costing R$ 2399,00.

Of course that’s not an official statement and has to be seen as a rumor, but it’s not hard to give credits to it. Important companies are leaving the country, unemployment is increasing, and products prices are increasing every day more. Apple and Android OEMs are also facing this same issue with prices.

We hope that Brazil recover fast and the customers will soon be able to purchase their new top-end Lumia, or that Microsoft manages to release it anyway as soon as possible.