It’s the end of an era. Nokia smartphones have gone the way of the dinosaur.
Microsoft today announced that it will be nixing the ‘Nokia’ brand from its line of Lumia devices and replacing it with ‘Microsoft.’
“When we announced that the Nokia Devices & Services business would become part of Microsoft, we also shared that Lumia, our smartphone brand, would become part of the Microsoft family,” said Tuula Rytilä, senior vice president of marketing for phones at Microsoft, in a Q&A on the company’s website. “Since then, we have naturally been making the change from Nokia to Microsoft in our websites, packaging and other consumer touch points.”
As part of the change, Microsoft is in process of rebranding some of its global and local websites, as well as its social network channels.
Rytilä wouldn’t comment on when the company would release its first Microsoft Lumia phone but did say it will bring a device to market ‘soon.’
And while Nokia smarpthones might be a thing of the past, Rytilä said that Microsoft will continue to sell Nokia-branded, entry-level category of phones, such as the Nokia 130. Also, all current Nokia Lumia devices on the market will continue to get support from Microsoft.
“As I said, the Lumia promise that you’ve come to experience and love will remain. We will continue to honor customer warranties and provide world-class care services as before,” she said.
Microsoft bought Nokia’s Devices & Services divsion back in September of last year. Microsoft agreed to pay $5.13 billion to purchase substantially all of Nokia’s handset division, and $2.17 billion to license Nokia’s patents, for a total transaction price of $7.2 billion in cash.
