Nokia Lumia 900 Release Date: AT&T Sales Team Recommends iPhone Over Lumia 900

Windows Phone is alright, a sales associate reportedly told CNET reporters, But it's no iPhone.

After visiting five different stores, the reporters found not a single sales associate willing to recommend the Lumia 900, even when prompted. 

Ramon Llamas, a senior research analyst at IDC, told CNET that Winning the point of sale is critical to the success of the Lumia 900, and that that's where the salesperson can educate potential customers about what Windows Phone can do – making the news that sales staff were not making hard sells on the new device all the more troubling to Nokia and AT&T's bottom line.

Meanwhile, Mary-Jo Foley countered with some retweets from her Twitter follows, who reported that in the stores they visited, staff were indeed talking up – and even, according to one person, using – Nokia Lumia 900s.

Though there have been Windows phones in the past, the Nokia Lumia 900 represents a new level of partnership between Microsoft and Nokia.

With the Lumia 900, Nokia, Microsoft and Qualcomm have taken a page from Apple Inc.'s playbook by closely tying together the hardware and software to produce a full-featured smartphone that is based on relatively inexpensive electronic components, said Andrew Rassweiler, senior principal analyst of teardown services at IHS, in a statement, according to the Los Angeles Times.