Microsoft is to drop both the Nokia and Windows Phone brand names in favour of just using Lumia. The company is beginning a transition to change all of its branding to simply Microsoft Lumia, just in time for the holiday season. The Finnish firm Nokia will live on as a separate company, though, focusing on mapping and network infrastructure. A report by The Verge says Microsoft is preparing to axe the Nokia name. The change by the Washington firm will see phones simply called Microsoft Lumia from now on (Lumia 730 shown). Both the Nokia brand name and Windows Phone are being dropped in the shake-up of Microsoft's phone business
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Nokia France has confirmed that they will now be called 'Microsoft Lumia'
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'We are on the verge of becoming Microsoft Lumia!' they wrote on their Facebook page
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The change by the Washington firm will see phones called Microsoft Lumia
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Both the Nokia brand name and Windows Phone are being dropped
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It brings to an end nearly three decades of Nokia phones
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But it's unclear if the change will affect existing phones or just new releases
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Microsoft bought Nokia's phone business for £4.5bn ($7.2 bn) in April
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However Finnish firm Nokia lives on as a separate company
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The move brings an end to @placeholder’s name being on mobile phones, a long run that stretches back into the 1980s.
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'Remember, @placeholder started almost 150 years ago with just one paper mill.
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It was first hinted at when Microsoft moved Nokia.com to be hosted on @placeholder’s own site.
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@placeholder has been quick to assure customers that the company will live on, albeit no longer in the mobile phone business.
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‘Yes, we have sold our mobile phone business to @placeholder.
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He continued: ‘We may not be the same @placeholder of several years ago, but we are here, we are strong, and our brand is very much still alive.