We"ve known for some time now that Microsoft has been planning to phase out the use of the Nokia brand on its devices, since taking over that company earlier this year. There have been numerous clues of this recently, including the launch of the first Microsoft-branded phone charger, and the Nokia France Facebook account confirming that the Nokia name was on the way out this week.
And yet, despite the many weeks of rumors and clues that have pointed to this, Microsoft had this week still not acknowledged its plans to drop the Nokia name. But today, the company finally announced its plans to transition from "Nokia Lumia" to "Microsoft Lumia".
This is a process that will not happen overnight, as the company suggests - we may yet see another Windows Phone launched under the Nokia Lumia brand, but there"s a pretty good chance that the next device will carry Microsoft branding instead.
Today, Microsoft also revealed a render of its own logo on the front of what appears to be a Lumia Windows Phone, as well as on the rear, finally answering the question of whether or not it would dial back on the Microsoft branding in the image-sensitive mobile space, in favor of a more prominent branding role for "Lumia".
The Nokia brand will live on in usage for some time to come, though, as the recently launched Lumia 530, 630, 635, 730, 735, 830 and 930 all carry Nokia branding, and will need to be marketed appropriately until their next product cycles, when they can be affordably replaced with Microsoft-branded Windows Phones.
Beyond this, however, the Nokia brand will also live on with Microsoft"s ultra-low-end "dumb-phones", like the Nokia 130, which - while selling in slowly declining numbers - are still seen as an important "step-up" for customers in developing markets, who can then be nudged later towards a more fully-featured and more premium Windows smartphone.
Today"s announcement not only confirms Microsoft"s decision to phase out the Nokia brand, but also clearly indicates its intentions to proudly emblazon its devices with the Microsoft logo. What do you think about this move? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: Microsoft | images 2-4 via Microsoft