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Cellphones Handhelds Microsoft

'Microsoft Lumia' Will Replace the Nokia Brand 150

Posted by timothy from the not-many-years-from-dominance dept.
jones_supa writes The last emblems of Nokia are being removed from Microsoft products. "Microsoft Lumia" is the new brand name that takes their place. The name change follows a slow transition from Nokia.com over to Microsoft's new mobile site, and Nokia France will be the first of many countries that adopt "Microsoft Lumia" for its Facebook, Twitter, and other social media accounts. Microsoft has confirmed to The Verge that other countries will follow the rebranding steps in the coming weeks. Nokia itself continues as a reborn company focusing on mapping and network infrastructure services.
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'Microsoft Lumia' Will Replace the Nokia Brand More

'Microsoft Lumia' Will Replace the Nokia Brand

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  • Recognition (Score:5, Insightful)

    by msobkow ( 48369 ) on Tuesday October 21, 2014 @10:39AM (#48195981) Homepage Journal

    Nokia has more brand name recognition, so of course we won't use that.

    Idjits.

    • Re:Recognition (Score:5, Funny)

      by sunderland56 ( 621843 ) on Tuesday October 21, 2014 @10:47AM (#48196071)

      It's not exactly the name recognition, it's the name's reputation.

      Nokia: well recognized, well liked brand with positive reception everywhere.

      Microsoft: well recognized, universally hated brand, regular finalist in "most hated company" competitions.

      Marketing 101 says: they chose the wrong name.

      • Re:Recognition (Score:5, Funny)

        by binarylarry ( 1338699 ) on Tuesday October 21, 2014 @10:52AM (#48196125)

        Does this make anyone feel bad for Steve Ballmer?

        The whole time I've assumed he was the reason Microsoft seemed to be run by idiots.

        But with this and their other recent moves, Microsoft seems to be run by a gaggle of idiots. A flock even.

        • Re:Recognition (Score:5, Funny)

          by pushing-robot ( 1037830 ) on Tuesday October 21, 2014 @11:31AM (#48196457)

          The correct word is "bungle". A bungle of idiots.

          Coincidentally, the same collective noun is used for managers. Microsoft seems to have both in great abundance, as well as a muddle of analysts and a quandary of advisors.

          • Microsoft seems to have both in great abundance,

            In fairness, so does/did Nokia.

            Remember when Nokia were at or at least only a little past their peak? When everyone had a Nokia phone and pitied (rightly) those poor souls on non-nokia phones which were hilariously bad to use. When it was one of the most well recognised and liked brands in the world.

            Well, they decided to launch things like maps and so on.

            And for some reason they decided to launch under the brand "Ovi".

            Whey the hell would you squander one of th

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by sootman ( 158191 )

          > Does this make anyone feel bad for Steve Ballmer?

          No. [forbes.com]

      • They only licensed the Nokia name for a limited time. They chose the only thing possible.

        • Re:Recognition (Score:5, Insightful)

          by msobkow ( 48369 ) on Tuesday October 21, 2014 @11:05AM (#48196249) Homepage Journal

          Then they were fools. The whole point of buying an established company is to buy the brand as well as the factories. Anyone can build a factory, usually for no more than it would cost to buy someone else out.

          • Intellectual property ... market share ... product offerings ... future company direction.

            Maybe they weren't the fools you think they were?

            • Except MS didn't get Nokia IP. MS is licensing Nokia patents. [microsoft.com]

              Microsoft Corporation and Nokia Corporation today announced that the Boards of Directors for both companies have decided to enter into a transaction whereby Microsoft will purchase substantially all of Nokia’s Devices & Services business, license Nokia’s patents, and license and use Nokia’s mapping services.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by richlv ( 778496 )

              uh, microsoft fucked up market share of nokia badly enough already. and how do you keep market share by renaming the product to something that is not only less known in the area, but also associated with... not the most exciting thing ever ?

              ok, maybe they didn't rename it, they just killed the old, good products and introduced a new one.

          • They didn't buy the company. They bought some of its divisions and IP.

          • Then they were fools. The whole point of buying an established company is to buy the brand as well as the factories. Anyone can build a factory, usually for no more than it would cost to buy someone else out.

            Except they weren't trying to buy the "brand". They were trying to buy the product to ensure that there was an actual product in the market with their failing OS on it; they were simply trying to buy market share; nothing more.

            The fact that it's their name on it now won't change anything. It will still fail just as a badly as before (may be even worse).

      • Re:Recognition (Score:5, Interesting)

        by i kan reed ( 749298 ) on Tuesday October 21, 2014 @11:01AM (#48196211) Homepage Journal

        The only error in your post is that most people can't bring themselves to care enough about Microsoft anymore to go as far as hating them. Say what you want about 95 through early XP era blue-screens, they were recognizable.

        Now, though, windows is basically synonymous with white collar office work, and not a lot else. A lot of people don't even use it at home for internet browsing anymore.

        • No, Windows is synonymous with both serious business and high-end gaming, so there's no viable substitute at home or in the office.

          • For most people there are many viable substitutes for "high-end gaming" as a hobby.

          • To be honest, Windows is no longer the big name in gaming platforms, Steam is. And Valve is pushing for game devs to move away from Windows-exclusive games so they can sell their Linux-based Steam Machines. While Linux support isn’t quite common yet it does pop up every now and then and OS X is actually seeing a fair number of high-profile releases.

            Right now Windows might hold its dominance in the video game market but whether it’ll still be the obvious choice in a few years is not settled. (F

      • It's not exactly the name recognition, it's the name's reputation.

        Nokia: well recognized, well liked brand with positive reception everywhere,except amongst developers that actually programmed for Symbian.

        Microsoft: well recognized, universally hated brand, regular finalist in "most hated company" competitions,but appreciated by developers for their excellent dev tools/environment.

        Marketing 101 says: they picked the right name but for reasons that aren't readily clear to the general public

        FTFY

        • It's not exactly the name recognition, it's the name's reputation.

          Nokia: well recognized, well liked brand with positive reception everywhere,except amongst developers that actually programmed for Symbian.

          Microsoft: well recognized, universally hated brand, regular finalist in "most hated company" competitions,but appreciated by developers for their excellent dev tools/environment.

          Marketing 101 says: they picked the right name but for reasons that aren't readily clear to the general public

          Spot the "hasn't

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by rtb61 ( 674572 )

          So let me guess, you also had a part in the 'Zune' product name or how about 'Live' search or 'Bing' for 'B'allmer. There were two distinct brands M$ and MSN, one over time developed a really bad name and the other was for some insane reason purposefully weakened down and broken up. The real problem is they still refuse to break up the company into two distinct and completely separate units and let them go their own way, allowing the more creative MSN to further define it's own unique brand. Rather than sp

      • Lumia: Recognized as nice phones with excellent cameras.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by DarkOx ( 621550 )

        Yea but the hatred of Microsoft is more resentment and jealousy than anything else. Sure geeks hate them but nobody else really does. Microsoft like IBM before it represents safety in a confusing market place. Nobody every got fired for buying Microsoft, just like nobody ever got fired for buying IBM before that.

        Microsoft has lost the consumer phone space, they have not yet decided they won't try but they know trying to get Teens and college kids to think their phones are 'cool' and or convince homemaker

        • Your point about policy management makes a lot of sense. Every software company I have worked at in the Valley has had IT with excellent non-Windows chops, yet they all still end up installing MS Exchange. There are certain solutions areas where MS has plenty of street cred among those who have to make the decisions.

          It is still an uphill battle. IT is often desperate to reduce the scope of device support, and they are not allowed to say no to the iPhone, and probably not Android either. If it comes down

          • Every software company I have worked at in the Valley has had IT with excellent non-Windows chops, yet they all still end up installing MS Exchange. There are certain solutions areas where MS has plenty of street cred among those who have to make the decisions.

            And this is true for a good reason: everything apart from Exchange is shit. Seriously. Name one large-scale email system that you fully control and is fully featured, has apps on all platforms, and is well-known by a lot of system admins.

            • Re: (Score:3)

              by unrtst ( 777550 )

              Name one large-scale email system that you fully control and is fully featured, has apps on all platforms, and is well-known by a lot of system admins.

              (bold added by me)
              If you replace "email" with some other term (ex. "groupware", or something that encompasses email, calendaring, contacts, etc), then you'd be a lot closer to having a point. There are still others, but that solution space is smaller when you demand those items be integrated in many ways. Just "email"... the list of excellent alternatives is too long.

            • Notes.

      • I am glad you're not in marketing then. Marketing 101 says don't use names you aren't legally allowed to use. Microsoft purchased part of Nokia, not Nokia, and so doesn't own the rights for the Nokia name (at least in the long term). Part of the deal was the transfer of the Lumia brand from Nokia to Microsoft for exactly this purpose.

      • Hated brand on /.

        I don't hear anybody say they hate Microsoft outside forums such as this one.

        As for Nokia and Kodak, both those names are now history so it doesn't matter if the name sounds good.

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Right, because they had a choice...

      As part of the acquisition of Nokia's mobile business, they also got the naming rights for a limited time only (two years, if I recall correctly).

      • And who negotiated the MS Nokia acquisition? Was it Google? Was it HP? No. MS negotiated the deal. They made a terrible deal if they didn't get naming rights.

        • Since they didn't acquire the whole of Nokia, I'm quite sure that this was the best result available.

          They "only" bought the mobile part of Nokia.

          • Google bought Motorola Mobility in 2011. They didn't get all of Motorola. They got the mobile phone division and got to use the name Motorola. Motorola Solutions still exists. This is the kind of deal that MS could have negotiated but didn't.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Kjella ( 173770 )

      Nokia has more brand name recognition, so of course we won't use that.

      Of the "let's frame it and put it on a wall" more than "I want one in my pocket" variety. I'll always have fond memories of Nokia 3210 and the state of the art in 1999, but it's not selling a new phone and it's not quite up to collectible/antique standards either. And Elop's little stunt sure didn't help Nokia's reputation as a has-been either. Not to mention that Nokia running Windows Phone might have some of the same hardware but there's very little in common between "old Nokia" and "new Nokia" anyway. I

    • Part of their deal when they bought out a subsection of Nokia was that they couldn't use the Nokia name on such products.

  • Brilliant! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ArhcAngel ( 247594 ) on Tuesday October 21, 2014 @10:42AM (#48196019)
    Throw away a brand synonymous with durability and communication and replace it with...ZUNE II !
    What could possibly go wrong?

    • Re:Brilliant! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by dontbemad ( 2683011 ) on Tuesday October 21, 2014 @11:04AM (#48196245)
      I'm fairly certain that in the layman's mind, that same "durability and communication" that the brand name Nokia implies conjures images of the old Nokia brick phones. While those certainly were durable and useful, they are also very archaic. Nokia might represent good, durable technology, but that is meaningless when the general public perceives it as "old". In an age where 2 years between new phones begins to sound like an eternity, a phone manufacturer would probably do well not to let the public still think of its main product as a monochrome, extremely basic cellphone from the early 2000s.

      • They might percieve it as old, but talk to anyone about Nokia phones.

        It'll take about 20 seconds for them to get on to how much better they were for actually making voice calls and how it was nice to have a phone that lasted a week on a charge and didn't break when you dropped it.

        They may be old, but people still associate a lot of awfully nice things with the name.

        • One thing people overlook is the UI. Nokia phones had a really intuitive soft button UI with the function written above the button on the screen. It made a huge difference in usage from the other phones at that time. Slowly, everyone adopted the same thing, of course. If Nokia were like Apple, they would have sued the hell out of Motorola, Samsung, Sony, LG, etc.

    • I love how Zune has now become a word for Microsoft screwing a partner.

      https://gigaom.com/2006/07/22/... [gigaom.com]

      Microsoft Partners, You Been Zunked

      More on that some other day, but the real and perhaps the only story in the news is that Microsoftâ(TM)s partners â" from device makers to music services â" just got double crossed by the company they choose to believe in. I like to call it Zun-ked (a tiny take off on Punked.)

  • What did they pay so much for if not the brand recognition ?

    Much easier to use an existing brand than try to create a new one

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Nokia's Patents, business partners/agreements, and manufacturing plants.

    • Ah, but if you buy it, you can phase out the brand, and have one less competitor.

      There is one less major company making a phone which isn't Windows now.

      Do you think that was an accident, or a strategy?

      • In the time it took for them to poison, acquire, and absorb Nokia, Samsung became a major vendor. I don't think there's a net benefit to Microsoft in the market.

  • Does it come in Luna Brown?

  • Embrace, extend, and then extinguish.

    Nokia used to write good software, it just didn't happen to be Microsoft.

    Resistance is futile, especially when the CEO gets parachuted in to make decisions which aren't good for Nokia.

    It's hard not to think that the Nokia shareholders didn't essentially get robbed in order to benefit Microsoft.

  • "Microsoft Lemona". I already don't want one.

  • What's with the euphemism? 'Reborn' us a very lame way to say 'dead', which is the real meaning in this case. Seriously, slashdot editors, if I wanted to read euphemisms, I would read the press release.

    • I invented the word "reborn" there, not Slashdot editor. What comes to new Nokia, the networking business is doing OK and is feasible. Sure, it's quite different to the magnitude of the phone business, but the company is not just a dead stub which pretends to exist. And, if you take a look at the history of the company [wikipedia.org], Nokia has done very different things over the years and shapeshifted multiple times.

    • Say what? I'm pretty sure the meaning of the word "reborn" is very much the opposite of "dead."

      Semantic quibbles aside, Nokia is very much alive and kicking, as an independent and hopefully revitalized company. They have about 56,000 employees, $15.5 billion in revenues, and and a $30 billion market capitalization. They have been consistently profitable since shedding their phone division, with profits for the upcoming fiscal year expected to be around $1.5 billion. For reference, that puts post-spinoff

  • lumia... (Score:4, Funny)

    by roc97007 ( 608802 ) on Tuesday October 21, 2014 @11:27AM (#48196421) Journal

    "Microsoft Lumia. Because it will function as a flashlight."

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by itzly ( 3699663 )
      And Microsoft had tuned the OS so that rebooting the phone only takes 2.3 seconds, which means you don't have to wait very long if you want to turn the flashlight on.

      • Re:lumia... (Score:4, Informative)

        by roc97007 ( 608802 ) on Tuesday October 21, 2014 @01:54PM (#48197777) Journal

        And Microsoft had tuned the OS so that rebooting the phone only takes 2.3 seconds, which means you don't have to wait very long if you want to turn the flashlight on.

        ...but they reboot in 2.3 seconds by restoring a state image from the previous session. A full reboot after BSOD will still take 23 minutes.

    • "Microsoft Lumia. Because it will function as a flashlight."

      Don't be ridiculous. Flashlights have removable batteries.

  • they should capitalize on the "Nokias are indestructible" meme, and make ruggedized phones.

  • "Lumia" is awfully close to "Lumix" (and the too make phones with cameras).

  • Microsoft should really consider a re-org that puts their consumer focused products(xbox, phones, etc... not the windows OS though) in a separate division with a different name.

    Put aside all of your feelings for Microsoft and just consider for a second how terrible a name like Microsoft is when it comes to cool, fashionable devices. Micro... soft... that's not a name I'd like associated with any kind of status symbol purchase. Sure, it's fine in the enterprise software space where image is less important,

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by PPH ( 736903 )

      Micro... soft...

      Small electronic devices that bend easily. No, wait. That's Apple's product line.

  • Brands are a big deal. They have value. Nokia had a storied history. Something like "Nokia (by Microsoft)" or just leaving "Microsoft" off entirely (like BMW does with Rolls Royce, or Tata does with Jaguar) would have allowed the brand value to be preserved.

    Some years ago, Ford decided to get rid of the Taurus line and rename it the '500'. They quickly realized the error of their ways and brought the Taurus name back.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • I say we combine the two and call it the Microsoft Leukemia.

  • the ZUNE Phone.

  • The branding people at Nokia probably guessed what's going to happen with windows phone and made the product name to a subtle joke.
    Lumia in Finnish translates as plural of snow in past tense.
    If you use it in a sentence: "Menneen talven lumia" (common anecdote) it translates as "Thing of the past"

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