14 DAY TRIAL // Following the acquisition of Nokia, Redmond-based software giant Microsoft has unveiled plans to keep the Nokia branding on existing devices for a while, and some more info on the matter has emerged.
Apparently, the company might be determined to terminate the Nokia branding from smartphones in the Lumia lineup before the 18 months period that it announced before.
A leaked document that has emerged over at evleaks shows that Microsoft and Nokia have agreed that new devices released by the former will become available with the company’s brand on them, and not with the Nokia branding, as previously expected.
What's unclear is whether this applies to any smartphone launched after the acquisition was completed, or to handsets built entirely by Microsoft, and that were not included in Nokia's roadmap before the deal's closing.
“Microsoft brand will only replace the Nokia brand in product, applications and experiences when Microsoft has launched a new product into the market,” the leaked document unveils.
Previously, the software giant confirmed that it bought the right to use the Nokia brand on handsets for 18 months for Lumia smartphones, until December 31, 2015, for Nokia X devices, and for 10 years for mobile phones.
Nokia Lumia 630 and Lumia 930, the latest Windows Phone handsets from the company, were announced as Nokia products and will certainly be sold this way until their end of life. However, the recently rumored Nokia McLaren might suffer a different fate, WMPoweruser suggests.
Although there’s no telling whether the change will be performed before said deadline or not, chances are that Microsoft will work towards making the switch as soon as possible.
Said leaked document also unveils that the company is planning on offering full support for all Lumia and Asha products, as well as for the entire Nokia phones portfolio, which was transferred to Microsoft as part of the transaction.
One other change that Microsoft is planning involves the Nokia Pure font, which will be replaced in future marketing materials with Microsoft Segoe.
However, there are a series of Nokia products that will remain with the Finnish company, including the Nokia Tune, Connecting People and “hands animation.” Microsoft did not buy rights for them, but all Nokia-branded devices will carry the Nokia Tune as default, along with the company’s logo, it seems.
The leaked document has also mentioned Microsoft’s brand promise, which is: “Tools for unleashing innovation in everyone on the planet.” For that, the company will listen to customer’s needs to deliver new products catered for them.