Nokia: Lumia 800 will be available SIM free on 16 November

Following the news that Clove has said that it won't be getting any SIM free stock of the Nokia Lumia 800 until 2012, and therefore neither will the rest of the industry, Nokia has set the record straight saying, well, the complete opposite.

"The Nokia Lumia 800 goes on sale on the 16th of November as we stated during the launch at Nokia World. There are some rather odd stories circulating at present, it's rather flattering as it proves that there are a lot of people who believe the Lumia 800 will be a major sales item and are now trying to get it onto their shelves.

"However for the rollout of our first Lumia products, we have chosen to work with the UK operator and retail partners who shared our enthusiasm and commitment to bring these first products to market with a major focus on bringing alive the Nokia with Windows Phone experience for consumers. Therefore we are making sure that by using these channels the Lumia 800 will be available to our customers in the widest variety of outlets from SIM free to contract.

"We have also worked extensively to train these channels to support the product. From Q1 next year we will be supplying the product to our wider UK distribution network and in the interim we will be supporting these additional channels with training ready for this wider reach.

Turns out Clove just isn't one of those key parties. It said in a statement on Tuesday:

"It's bad news on the Nokia front this afternoon unfortunately. We can now confirm that the Nokia Lumia 800 will not be available SIM-free in the UK until January 2012, although it will still be launched in the UK on November 16th with a contract and will be available from selected stores.

"This is a real shame as we're seeing massive interest in the first baby from the Nokia/Windows Phone marriage and we're expecting it to be well received when it does launch. We will be contacting customers that have pre-ordered by email shortly.

Our bet would be to get it from one of the Network operators with or without SIM. You can read our thoughts on the new Nokia phone in our Nokia Lumia 800 review.

© copyright Pocket-lint 2011