14 DAY TRIAL // It's only been a few weeks since various documents leaked online confirmed Microsoft's plan of dropping Nokia brand and replace it with another of its own.
The information was leaked earlier this month by @evleaks, so most of us assumed that it was accurate enough, especially that the information provided in these documents was in line with Stephen Elop's previous statement in which he confirmed that Microsoft planned to replace the Nokia name for its Windows Phone handsets.
Well, not so fast. Fast forward a few weeks after the said leak and we now have new details on Microsoft's plans regarding its lineup of Windows smartphones and tablets.
According to the same @evleaks, Microsoft is now in the final stages of licensing the Nokia brand, which will be used for its Windows Phone handsets.
The Redmond-based company will be calling its smartphones “Nokia by Microsoft” and it is likely to remove the Lumia name from its handsets.
The removal of the Lumia brand from all the upcoming Windows Phone phones is not without reason. The same @evleaks claims that Microsoft will be replacing the Surface brand with Lumia, which means that it will be launching Lumia tablets in the not so distant future.
Even though Microsoft invested so much in the Surface brand, it looks like the company is willing to replace it with another brand, Lumia, which, according to the Internet, is more searched by users.
Obviously, we suggest our readers to take this information with a grain of salt, given the fact that no other sources have confirmed that Microsoft plans to make radical changes to its branding policy.
For those out of the loop, Microsoft confirmed a few months ago that it had purchased the right to use the Nokia brand for its Lumia smartphones for 18 months since the moment it acquired the Finnish company's mobile division.
The Redmond also stated that it would retain the use of Nokia brand for feature phones for a much longer time (probably 10 years), while Asha lineup will have lose its Nokia name by the end of 2015.
We have already reached out to Microsoft for an official statement on these rumors, but the only answer we expect to get is “no comment.”
There are lots of variations in the matter, so it's hard to assume anything at this moment, but if the rumors are true, some of the details of the licensing deals should emerge online more or less officially.
We can only hope that this will happen sooner rather than later. What do you thinks about these unconfirmed rumors? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section.