Microsoft to drop 'Nokia' from Lumia phones

As part of its effort to evolve its brand, Microsoft is going full throttle to undertake a rebranding exercise on a country-by-country  basis by dropping the iconic Nokia name from its smartphones.

Microsoft Phones Senior Vice-President of Marketing Tuula Rytila said in a statement that the initiative has been started in France to begin with and will be taken forward in other countries also.

“This is a very exciting time for us and for Lumia products. Our global and local websites are going through a transition as we speak, and in the coming days our social channels will get a new name too — they will be called Microsoft Lumia,” she said.

According to Rytila, this work will continue across Microsoft’s devices, packaging and retail, to name a few. On the new product launch on the new brand, she declined to comment on future product announcements. “But what I can say is that we are looking forward to unveiling a Microsoft Lumia device soon. This is of course a natural progression as all devices that once came from Nokia now come from Microsoft,” Rytila said.

Nokia France's Facebook page had announced in French on October 21: "We are on the verge of becoming Microsoft Lumia." More information would be shared soon, it said. Microsoft recently announced the Lumia 830 and Lumia 730/735. In India, Microsoft launched Lumia 730, Lumia 830 and Lumia 930 in October.

Microsoft acquired Nokia's mobile phone business in April for $7.2 billion. Besides  shutting down NokiaX and discontinuing the Asha range, the company made  several changes to the strategy of selling devices and forked Android smartphones. After the merger, Microsoft said it would cut 18,000 jobs. About 550 employees from Nokia India moved to Microsoft after the transaction.