Report: Microsoft brand replacing Nokia for future Lumia devices

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) will put its own brand in place of the Nokia (NYSE:NOK) brand for new Lumia devices, according to The Verge.

The report said the software maker has made the change in France and that the "Microsoft Lumia" branding has been adopted for Nokia Lumia Windows Phone devices on Microsoft's Facebook, Twitter, and other social media accounts. Microsoft confirmed to The Verge that other countries will follow the rebranding in the next several weeks, the report said.

A Nokia devices spokesman declined to comment and Microsoft representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Microsoft finished acquiring Nokia's devices and services business in April. The company is in the process of slashing up to 18,000 jobs, 12,500 of whom will be former Nokia workers.

Rumors began swirling over the summer that Microsoft would drop the Nokia name for Lumia devices and in September a leaked internal Microsoft memo indicated that would be the case. Microsoft has also started directing visitors to Nokia.com to a Microsoft website focused on mobile devices. It's unclear how the rebranding will affect branding on actual future devices.

Meanwhile, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella expounded on his idea of Microsoft moving toward a "mobile-first, cloud-first" world. In an interview with CNBC, he said that "it's actually not the mobility of the device, it's the mobility of the human experience across devices. And the way that happens is because the cloud orchestrates it."

Nadella noted that every day people are interacting with sensors and multiple devices with small and large screens, all thanks to data that is stored in the cloud. "And that's why I think it's a pretty strategic battleground," he said. "And in our case, we have a pretty comprehensive vision for what the cloud is and what the future of distributed computing is."

Nadella said Microsoft's resources for enterprise like Office 365 and Xbox Live for consumers means Microsoft has a diverse set of cloud applications. Microsoft just announced a partnership with Dell to create a "cloud platform system" to bring its large-scale Azure cloud service to enterprise data centers. The hardware-software combination essentially gives enterprises "Azure in a box."

When asked if Microsoft should split off its consumer business from its enterprise business, as Hewlett-Packard is doing, Nadella said that consumers use Microsoft's software throughout their daily lives, and Microsoft wants to target those customers. "So to us, the way I characterize it is, let's go after the users and their dual use," he said. "In fact, I want us to shine, and want to be the best in class around people who are these dual users, who want to use things which are our tools, our platforms for their home as well as work, and it crosses over."

For more:
- see this The Verge article
- see this CNBC article
- see this Business Insider article

Related Articles:
Microsoft's Nadella: Windows 10 will boost our position in Internet of Things market
Microsoft scores 50 new device partners after making Windows free for smaller devices
Microsoft axes 2,100 workers, shutters Silicon Valley research lab
Microsoft rolls out new mid-range Lumia smartphones, with a focus on camera technology
Rumor Mill: Microsoft likely to abandon Nokia brand, especially on newer products