Nokia to be rebranded Microsoft Mobile?


Nokia could be rebranded Microsoft Mobile once Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia is complete.


According to a leaked memo address to existing Nokia Devices and Services business suppliers’ base, the Nokia brand may be scrapped in favour of a new Microsoft Mobile arm.


This Microsoft Mobile arm will be a Microsoft subsidiary and will most likely be the name of Microsoft’s mobile devices arm rather than the existing Nokia name.


“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”, reads Nokia’s letter.


Oyj and Oy are types of business designations in Finland, so those parts will be dropped in England to become just Microsoft Mobile.


The Microsoft plans to acquire Nokia for $7.2 billion were revealed in September 2013, with the deal approved in November. The sale is expected to close on April 25 when Nokia will be engulfed into Microsoft.


This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of the possibility Microsoft’s may not use the Nokia brand in the future.


Back in October, former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop revelead that Microsoft could “ditch the Nokia brand” going forward, adding that “lots of things could happen in 10 years.”


“What we have to decide is what the brand will be. Because we have not decided what brand will be dominant for smartphones, that’s work that’s still ahead. And of course the way we’ll go through that is to assess with consumers what they respond most positively to, what conveys the best message and the best hopes of success”, said Elop at the time.


Both Nokia and Microsoft already have multiple brands to their name, like Xbox and Lumia, so it might be simpler to make Nokia a Microsoft brand rather than add more confusion.


“Microsoft as a company, of course, has many brands: Xbox, Office, Surface and a variety of others. We have brands like Lumia. So we’ll need to decide what the next step is from a branding perspective.”


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Via: NokiaPowerUser