Though this isn’t strictly a surprise and was an eventual certainty, it will certainly hurt when the Nokia brand is obliterated by Microsoft.
After Microsoft bought Nokia Corporation for $7.2 Billion, there were multiple agreements that the two companies signed. However, while handing over the factories and other assets, the Redmond-based company even decided to retire the brand once the takeover has completed its final stages.
Nokia had sold off its entire mobile division to Microsoft. The Finland-based company came in at quite an affordable price tag of $7.2 Billion. The deal had ensured that for a year or until the deal was completed, Nokia as a brand will continue to be in circulation and devices will have the Nokia name. Hence, despite the sale, Nokia churned out devices like Nokia Lumia and the latest attempt, the Nokia X Series, which had Android’s core version; Android Open Source Project (AOSP).
Microsoft had to secure multiple permissions from anti-competition and antitrust bodies like America’s Federal Trade Commission, India’s Fair Trade Commission and so on. However, despite undergoing such intensive scrutiny, the company did not divulge its future plans for Nokia, other than the fact the majority of the employees of Nokia as well as its R&D plants across the world will be retained.
But recently Nokia sent out an internal letter which established the cruel fact that the brand, once-iconic and monopolistic in many developing countries, including India, will be unceremoniously killed and forcibly placed as a sub-brand called ‘Microsoft Mobile’, reported Mashable . The letter currently sent only to resellers in Finland reads,
“Please note that upon the close of the transaction between Microsoft and Nokia, the name of Nokia Corporation/Nokia Oyj will change to Microsoft Mobile Oy. Microsoft Mobile Oy is the legal entity name that should be used for VAT IDs and for the issuance of invoices”
Oyj is a Finnish abbreviation for a “public stock company”, while the Oy is a term for a “corporation”. The take-over is expected to be completed by this month itself and the contents of the letter now clearly imply that Nokia as a brand that was a household name, will be no more, reported The Drum .
Since Nokia has churned out vastly improved versions of its smartphones in all imaginable price ranges, Microsoft won’t stop sourcing Nokia made handsets. However, the company will ensure that mobiles will now have the moniker Microsoft Mobile.
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