Microsoft to phase out Nokia name

Microsoft ditching the Nokia name on smartphones
BBC News

The Nokia Lumia name will soon become Microsoft Lumia

Microsoft is ditching the Nokia brand name from new devices, less than a year after acquiring the Finnish mobile firm.

New Nokia Lumia smartphones will instead by known as Microsoft Lumia, the company said.

Nokia's non-mobile division, which is not owned by Microsoft, will continue to use the name.

The mobile operation was bought by Microsoft in April in a deal worth $7.2bn (£4.6bn).

Since then, Microsoft has quietly shifted away from the Nokia brand.

A post on Nokia France's Facebook page confirmed the branding shift. The renaming will roll out globally in due course, Microsoft has said.

The announcement comes despite Microsoft agreeing to a 10-year deal to use the Nokia name on mobile products.

Microsoft is currently having a big shake-up. In July, chief executive Satya Nadella announced the cutting of 18,000 jobs.

The bulk of the cuts, around 12,500, will be from staff taken on after the Nokia acquisition.