
Nokia phones to be renamed Microsoft Mobile - paukiatwee
http://zeenews.india.com/business/news/technology/nokia-phones-to-be-renamed-microsoft-mobile_98151.html
======
chollida1
Wow, the comments here are just, well not very hacker new'sish.

Lots of glib one liners about mistakes with no actual commentary as to why its
a bad idea. Or jokes about how Microsoft is a negative brand, or the devil.

Here's the thing.

1) Microsoft didn't buy permanent use of the Nokia brand so they need to brand
as something.

2) the Microsoft brand is very strong and positive with most demographics.
Heck most people in tech that I respect now admit that Microsoft is a pretty
good company now, both to work for and for their products.

If you have a problem with the brand, then layout your point but putting out a
single sentence isn't very helpful.

~~~
Zigurd
OK, here is why this is one of the worst, yet completely willful deals ever in
tech:

1\. Microsoft does not need Nokia. Anyone can work with an ODM to develop and
manufacture a high quality smartphone, tablet, or PC.

2\. Microsoft didn't even get "Nokia." After a short transition, the brand
stays with the rest of Nokia.

3\. Microsoft didn't get the patents.

4\. Microsoft didn't get the ecosystem. No maps. No Music. No app store.

5\. Microsoft got only a very short period of exclusivity. In 2016, around the
time Jolla will have matured their business enough to spin back in to Nokia,
which is still a large telecom company, Nokia gets to go back into making
phones. Meanwhile, Jolla is where you will see Nokia's ecosystem on phones.

6\. Microsoft gets ALL of Nokia's legacy phone business. Series 30. The
briefly prospering and now dying Asha. Old Series 40. And the factories that
make these devices. "Here ya go, Satya. Have fun with this. I'm outta here!"

7\. Microsoft gets an interesting but under-developed Android -based successor
to Asha. Microsoft will kill it. But they should keep it and allow it to
compete against Windows Phone. The important thing is for Micrsoft to have an
attractive ecosystem, and an internal competitor to Windows Phone that drives
development of a Microsoft ecosystem accessible to Android users would be good
for Microsoft. Maybe Satya Nadella is daring enough to keep it. But I would
not bet on that happening.

8\. It was a shotgun wedding. It was all about the downside of Nokia
abandoning or de-emphasizing Windows Phone.

Windows Phone isn't worth saving. Bringing the Microsoft ecosystem to many
phone platforms is what should be happening.

~~~
cwyers
I don't get this line of thinking. Microsoft should pack up their efforts to
build their own full-service ecosystem and commit to being a player on Google
and Apple's ecosystems, but Nokia should commit themselves to putting their
entire ecosystem on freaking JOLLA? If Windows Phone is a failure, Jolla is a
conga line of ten failures walking straight off a cliff.

------
higherpurpose
It was Nokia's branding that managed to keep Windows Phone alive all this
time, and the fact that thanks to inertia most people still recalled Nokia as
being the #1 phone brand before the iPhone came around, so they kept buying
"Nokias" regardless of what OS they had. If it wasn't for that, WP would've
never passed the 2 percent mark, and it would've probably started to die off 2
years ago.

It will be interesting to see how Microsoft manages to go from selling "Nokia
phones" that everyone immediately recognizes, to "Microsoft phones" \- which
isn't a strong consumer brand _at all_. I have to mention everytime that
Microsoft is the company that makes that Windows thing on their PC when I tell
normal people about it.

~~~
jackalope
At least in the US, consumer choice is significantly limited by the carriers,
so I'm not convinced that sales are very brand-driven. Even the same model
might use completely different hardware in the US than the rest of the world.

I bought my Windows Phone as an alternative to Android and iOS. The fact that
it was a well-made Nokia was a certainly a bonus and an influencing factor,
but I had no brand loyalty at the time. I always call it my "Windows Phone" in
conversation and never mention Nokia or Microsoft, so it's possible the
hardware rebranding will go unnoticed by the average consumer, as well.

~~~
dredmorbius
Carrier lock-in is falling rapidly. T-Mobile is leading that charge, another
lagging brand (say, Sprint, if it gets its act together) might go with it
next.

You can buy a basic phone, unlocked, no contract, for $30 from any vendor. Get
a prepaid plan and you're free of contracts. Even smartphones are now well
under $100.

My own approach has been to ditch the smartphone (too intrusive, too much
advertising, too much spyware, crap battery life), got with a basic "feature"
phone (14 day standby). I'm looking for a decent tablet, though my old Android
serves that role now -- access to WiFi is pretty decent, and accessing
locally-stored content (music, books, and articles) is the most productive use
I've got for the device.

Form-factor of a tablet, plus a Bluetooth keyboard, fits the actual data uses
of a phone far better than a smartphone. The feature phone is tiny, cheap, and
ultimately disposable.

------
Jake232
Although this may seem like a massive mistake, that's because _we_ all
associate Microsoft as a negative brand, I think you're forgetting that it's
associated with negativity in tech circles only. 95%+ of consumers see
Microsoft as a huge corporation they can trust. If you asked your parent
whether they think Microsoft is a good brand, the answer would likely be
"Yes".

~~~
cmarschner
This might be true for countries like the US or China, but definitely not for
Europe.

~~~
Jake232
How so? I'm from the UK and most of the people I know would say MS are a
reputable brand for sure.

------
marko1985
I wonder if that means that other vendors like samsung/lg/huawei/... will not
manufacture windows phones anymore as the name "Microsoft Mobile" sounds to me
like there are no other vendors that can install MS WP systems on their
devices. Any idea?

~~~
yulaow
In the build 2014 they announced a list of 12-14 vendors that are about to
ship some new wp8.1, so I think that's not the case.

Surely the fact that now MS control also the HW and can produce phones
directly will not encourage, in the mid-long term, other manufacturers to use
that os, also if it is license free.

------
the_ed
I figure this is just the name for the legal entity and does not necessarily
mean a change in branding?

~~~
seba_dos1
They can use Nokia brand only for few years, they don't have rights for it. It
was known right from the beginning of this selling story that Nokia brand will
disappear from mobile devices industry. Only the remaining parts of Nokia, not
sold to Microsoft (part working on localization services etc.), will be able
to continue to use this name.

~~~
higherpurpose
Only until 2015 I think, so a year more.

~~~
anonymfus
Until end of 2015 Nokia can not use Nokia brand for mobile devices. Microsoft
can use Nokia brand for 10 years.

Source:

[http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-09-22/news...](http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-09-22/news/42292402_1_nokia-
shareholders-voicedata-nokia-brand)

------
deepuj
Nokia is one of the most valuable brand names in the world. Microsoft would
know better than to change that.

~~~
zaidf
How is the brand valuable in a practical sense? On the other hand, it has
plenty of negative association as a company that tried and failed to compete
with Samsung and Apple.

~~~
rasz_pl
>How is the brand valuable in a practical sense?

[https://www.google.com/search?q=nokia+indestructible&tbm=isc...](https://www.google.com/search?q=nokia+indestructible&tbm=isch)

------
usefulcat
That title, does not need a comma.

------
pearjuice
What?! If I say Nokia people say "ah yes! The company which made the best
phones in the world! _some 3310 reference_ Lately they even make smartphones!"

If I say Microsoft people uncomfortably say "ah yes... The company which
operates my computer. It works, but I wish there were better alternatives."

They just destroyed a organic grown massive brand appreciation.

------
frade33
If they really wanted to compete with Apple Inc in terms of branding. They
should rather have renamed Microsoft to Nokia. It's not only catchy, but also
Nokia is essentially a hardware vendor brand much like the Apple Inc.

------
phr4ts
Surface phone or something else but Microsoft Mobile? It's horrible from a
marketing point of view. It would only work if Microsoft had beaten Apple and
Android to the market.

~~~
Mikeb85
They did beat them to the market. Then they screwed up, lost their whole
advantage to Apple, and abandoned Windows Mobile...

------
sirkneeland
Nokia is dead, long live Nokia

-signed, a Nokia employee

~~~
dredmorbius
No, it's just dead. Sorry.

------
balladeer
Microsoft Mobile or Phone may still fare better than "Windows" Mobile/Phone.

------
agalaria
big mistake

------
rickisen
I feel sorry for my neighbor finland.

~~~
rocky5
Why u feel sorry for them ?

~~~
phaus
For well over a hundred years, Nokia made Finland proud. It was Finland's
Apple. I'm an American and I'm sad that its over too.

~~~
szatkus
As an American you are proud of Apple? Seriously?

~~~
thesimpsons1022
As an American I am proud of Apple. What is wrong with that?

~~~
szatkus
There's bunch of big companies in USA which are... you know... less evil and
more innovative than Apple.

~~~
thesimpsons1022
in my opinion, no company has contributed more to modern computers or
cellphones than apple.

------
shankysingh
Look "How the mighty have fallen"

------
rocky5
The end of one era.

------
SchizoDuckie
Biggest. Mistake. Ever.

But then again, memories of Nokia being actually any good will not be tainted
by Microsoft Phone, and if Microsoft Phone fails it can be resurrected as
NeoNokia..

~~~
whoismua
Nokia brand was not sold IIRC, it stayed with Nokia. Microsoft had a license
for a few years and that's all.

On one hand the OS is Microsoft, on the other Microsoft just isn't hip and has
baggage from past years. It's a dilemma

~~~
joenathan
>Microsoft just isn't hip

There is a whole world out there beyond the hipsters that buys phones, most of
them not being able to afford the latest iDevice.

~~~
jackalope
I can afford any phone I want, but I hated my (2.1) Android and couldn't read
any text on the (iOS 6) iPhone even with my glasses on, so I bought a Nokia
Lumia 920 with WP8. So far, I have no regrets, although the decision might
have been harder if iOS 7 had been released at the time, with its flat UI.

I support Android, iOS and WP8 phones in my household and the Nokia/Windows
Phone 8 is by far the most problem-free, which is ironic because I won't let
anyone in the house near a Windows computer without supervision; I normally
use Linux and switched the rest of my family to Macs.

~~~
dublinben
Why would you compare Android 2.1 to the Lumia 920 when phones like the Galaxy
S III (with 4.0.4 ICS) were already available?

~~~
jackalope
Because that's what I was using (and leaving) at the time. The Galaxy S III
was the leading contender, in fact, but my negative experiences with Android
1.6 and 2.1 (from bad to worse) factored against it. I later supported an S3
for a few months that was buggy and unreliable, so I was happy I didn't get it
instead.

~~~
dublinben
It just strikes me as unfair to use a several year old OS as a comparison. I
know how terrible WM6 was, but I'm not applying that experience to the current
WM8.

