Nokia has quietly announced an update to its best selling Lumia model in the young life of the series in the 520 with the 525. The 525 adds subtle changes to the base 520, with a gloss finish for the backing plate, improved camera and slight increase in storage, with the biggest change being the increase in RAM from the 512MB in the 520 to 1GB, allowing for more app compatibility on the device.
However, this update to the 520, which has been the linchpin of many deals from US carriers such as AT&T and T-Mobile will not be made available in a US version, Nokia preferring to keep it to Asia, Africa and the Middle East and keeping with its current strategy of low-cost models for developing markets and mid-range and high-end models for developed markets.
Time will tell if this update will make a short-term difference in those regions with the increasing popularity of Android, but the lack of a US release does mean that carriers will have to move to other Lumia models in the future for prepaid offerings, such as the 620/625 and go up from there, which may not be to Nokia’s benefit as the 520/521’s popularity in the US was underpinned by its lower than average pricing for a current generation smartphone.
