Nokia is dead, long live Microsoft Lumia

The other day we reported that Microsoft was moving ahead with plans to ditch the Nokia brand in favour of using Lumia, today that has been confirmed by Microsoft’s Senior VP for Marketing for Phones, Tuula Rytilä.

Speaking on what was once Nokia Conversations, Rytilä confirmed that a branding transition was taking place and that Microsoft’s phones would be sold under the moniker of ‘Microsoft Lumia’. In all likelihood the changes will be in name only, since Microsoft has released a number of Lumia phones since it’s acquisition of Nokia’s phone division earlier this year.

Details are a little scarce right now. We know that a Lumia phone is on its way soon, but Microsoft is not revealing when that will be. Similarly marketing photos from the announcement post show phones using the Microsoft branding, with no mention of Lumia whatsoever. Similarly the term ‘Windows Phone’ is not used once, something that will likely add to the rumours that Microsoft is phasing out that particularly branch of the Windows software.

As I mentioned yesterday, Microsoft still has the right to use the Nokia name for dumbphones for a further nine and a half years or so, meaning it’s unlikely to not exploit that opportunity. It’s all rather confusing right now, but it’s more than likely that Microsoft will be giving us more information in the very near future.