Verizon's upcoming Nokia Lumia Icon already on sale in China

The Nokia Lumia Icon, the next exclusive Windows Phone 8 handset from Verizon Wireless, is already on sale in China, with a claim that the smartphone is being imported from the U.S.

We have been reporting on the Nokia Lumia Icon (formerly known as the Lumia 929) for some time. The Windows Phone 8 handset is supposed to be a Verizon Wireless exclusive and indeed the carrier briefly posted a placeholder page for the phone on its website before quickly removing it. This morning, a new video showing the phone leaked to the Internet.

While we are still waiting on the official announcement of this phone from Nokia or Verizon, it appears that the Lumia Icon is already on sale in China. Winp.cm has posted images of the phone, and says that the Icon is being imported from the U.S. into the country. The phone has a price as low as 3,800 Yuan ($630) on retail websites.

There is still no word on when the Nokia Icon will go on sale through Verizon. It's possible that the hold-up is due to a possible closing of the deal which will have Microsoft take over Nokia's Devices and Services business. An announcement on that front could come sometime later this week, possibly on Thursday.

Just a reminder: the Nokia Lumia Icon is supposed to have a 5-inch display with 1920x1080 resolution, a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM and a 20 megapixel PureView rear camera.

Source: Winp.cm via WMPoweruser | Image via Winp.cm