End of the road for Nokia as Microsoft prepares to jettison brand

11 Sep 2014

Microsoft's recently launched Nokia device, the Lumia 130, a €19 phone with buttons and a month-long battery life

In a bid to break free of the past, Microsoft is preparing to jettison the Nokia and Windows Phone brands forever, replacing them simply with Windows.

According to internal documents seen by GeekOnGadgets, branding guidelines for the vital Christmas sales season make it clear that the Nokia manufacturing name is to be dropped.

“As part of our phased transition, we will drop the manufacturer name (Nokia) from product references during the Holiday campaign.”

New commercials in the US for Microsoft’s mobile products, such as the Lumia 930, don’t mention Windows Phone, and just refer to the OS as Windows, while HTC ads for its latest device refer to the new One M8 for Windows.

Indications that the Nokia brand was about to be killed off were noted back in April as soon as Microsoft’s US$7.1bn acquisition of Nokia was completed, referring to its newly acquired mobile division as Microsoft Mobile Oy rather than Nokia.

In July, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, as part of his strategy to turn Microsoft into a cloud and devices company, revealed Microsoft was eliminating 18,000 jobs – mostly at Nokia. The company announced that a streamlining plan will see 14pc of its workforce cut, including 12,500 professional and factory positions in the Nokia Devices and Services business.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com