The launch of Nokia’s flagship Windows Phone-powered Lumia 800 smartphone is reported to have received mixed advanced orders. According to the Financial Times (FT), two operator sources said the phone, which went on sale in a number of European countries yesterday, had “far fewer” pre-orders than Apple’s iPhone 4S, and “had also been slower than recent high-end phones using Google’s Android operating system."

The FT does, however, note that Orange said it was the most successful Nokia launch ever and had been popular in pre-orders.

In an interview with the publication, Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop said sales would build over time, but declined to give internal targets. “We are interested first and foremost about volume. Our highest priority is to help Windows Phones to compete with Android. This is the first showcase product.”

Elop also told Reuters that the vendor plans to undercut its Windows Phone rivals to give its new smartphones a foothold in the market before trying to improve margins. "You see us pricing the devices so that that we can get what we think will be a good volume," Elop said.

Meanwhile, the head of Nokia France told Les Echos newspaper in an interview published on Wednesday that the company plans to launch its own tablet in June running the Windows 8 platform. Elop told Reuters the company would be interested in using Windows 8 to launch tablets, but declined to comment on specific plans. "It is clearly a very interesting opportunity," Elop said, adding the fact that because Windows 8 will use a similar interface as the Windows Phone platform, it should also boost uptake of smartphones using the platform.