Microsoft is gradually withdrawing the use of Nokia as a brand name.
In September, Microsoft indicated that it is moving away from Nokia brand name completely, when the Nokia UK website started redirecting users to its ‘new home’, the Microsoft Mobile Devices page.
It was then expected that Nokia websites of other regions will soon follow. Now it seems that the transition has started with ‘Nokia France’ first, as announced on its Facebook page.
The post says that Nokia France will soon become “Microsoft Lumia”. A Verge report on Tuesday says Microsoft has confirmed the “Microsoft Lumia” rebranding for Nokia France, and that it will be followed by other countries in the coming weeks.
For now, it is not clear how Microsoft will use the rebranding for future Lumia devices – whether only Lumia will be used for branding, or will Microsoft branding also make an appearance on the device. We’ll have to wait for the company to detail this, or for its next Lumia smartphone to be unveiled.
The company is also expected to drop ‘Phone’ in the Windows Phone branding. Last month, Microsoft in two of its new Windows advertisements appeared to have provided more evidence of its plans to ditch the Windows Phone brand. A UK-based manufacturer’s smartphone product images also hinted that the smartphone will feature the Windows logo with words ‘Windows’ instead of ‘Windows Phone’. This is in-line with the company’s unification of its operating systems with the Windows 10 ‘Threshold’ update.