Nokia, the phone maker many have grown to know and love over the past decade, gave up its autonomy in a $7.2 billion sale to Microsoft last week. Soon, Nokia will cease to exist even in name.
CNET reported that Microsoft's new head of devices Stephen Elop (formerly Nokia CEO) stated that the Nokia brand name will no longer be used going forward following Microsoft's acquisition.
"Nokia as a brand will not be used for long going forward for smartphones," Elop said in a Q&A on its Conversations blog. "Work is underway to select the go-forward smartphone brand."
No new name has been selected, then, but the Nokia name will soon be dead in the smartphone market: you won't see it physically written on phones or appear in advertisements. So long, Nokia phones--you will be missed.
Fortunately, the worthwhile products will continue to live. Microsoft clearly desired the acquisition of the Lumia line, the most well-received Windows phone, in an effort to drive its mobile operating system to consumers on its own.
Whether they keep the name Lumia remains to be seen, but given that it's the most well-established Windows phone brand, I imagine Microsoft will be happy to keep the name around. The Lumia already has one of the most precious commodities for Windows phone right now--market presence--and Microsoft is unlikely to trade that in for a name change.
Dropping the Nokia brand from the line will have to do, surely replaced with whatever new name Microsoft chooses. Microsoft did not purchase any of the infrastructure business or technology group, which will continue to operate independently.