Nokia Says Lumia 800 Sales Off To "Excellent Start"...Mmmmm

Nokia's last-ditch gasp at survival first foray into Windows devices - the Lumia 800 - has got off to "an excellent start", according to, err, Nokia.

The Lumia 800 went on sale in the UK earlier this month. It's the Finnish company's first smartphone loaded with Windows Phone OS as part of a new tie-up with Microsoft.

Nokia has spent a fortune advertising it, which isn't surprising. The company's future rests on its Windows devices taking off and increasing its plummeting share of the smartphone market.

Analysts are saying sales are disappointing and Nokia has now issued a statement - sort of - denying this:

"Lumia 800 sales in the U.K. are off to an excellent start," Nokia said in a statement. "Based on earliest data the sales start of the Lumia 800 is the best ever first week of Nokia smartphone sales in the U.K. in recent history."

But to be quite honest, that wouldn't be hard to achieve with Nokia's recent smartphone sales record.