Nokia Is Still Alive–They Might Not Make Phones Anytime Soon, But Still Very Alive

October 29 21:09 2014 by Alexei Rivera Print This Article

Back in September when the rumors of Microsoft retiring the Nokia brand from the smartphone business started circulating, Nokia’s Barry French (Executive VP, Marketing & Corporate Affairs) posted a response on the company’s official blog: “Nokia brand still very much alive.” Of course, the mobile phone business was sold to Microsoft and that’s what’s being retired. But Nokia still exists in the products that they still own – a large IP portfolio that companies still pay royalties for; a very powerful map service (that is free on Androids now!); and the same engineers and thinkers that brought us so much innovation in the mobile phone space. So yes, Microsoft is taking away the Nokia phone brand, but Nokia lives on.

In a post on Nokia Conversations just this week, a month and some change after Barry French’s, Microsoft sealed the deal on the branding rename. Phones will now be called Microsoft Lumias instead of Nokia Lumias. But as said, those refer to just the phones. While that has been the company’s focus in the recent years, they definitely still have a lot of business in them so expect to see the name stick around.

There’s also the possibility that Nokia will develop phones again. While they can’t immediately get into the business per their agreement with Microsoft, who knows what happens in a few years? With how fast technology changes, maybe we’ll be buying a new type of device in the near future. Maybe even a Nokia.

One thing is for sure, my Nokia N-series tumbler and wristwatch are waiting.