This Is The End: Nokia Branded Mobile Phones Are Dead

Nokia once had one of the strongest brand names in the mobile phone business. Its products were synonymous with innovation and indestructibility, and the brand became hugely popular because of it. However nothing lasts forever, and following the launch of the iPhone and competing Android smartphones, the company began to fall on hard times.

As its sales began to plummet, it made the poor decision to over-invest in the new Windows Phone operating system, driven in part by the huge amounts of cash Microsoft was offering. Nonetheless, this OS proved to be unpopular with consumers due to limited app choices, and not even Nokia’s well-reviewed Lumia range of colorful smartphones was enough to save the business.

The final death blow for the company came in April this year when Microsoft bought out its Devices and Services Division for the sum of $7.1 billion. This effectively split the company and gave Microsoft complete control over its smartphone and feature phone business. Since then there has been much attention paid to whether Microsoft will keep the Nokia brand on the devices it produces, or will apply its own branding.

This question now seems to be answered, and by the looks, it is all over for Nokia phones. In a Facebook post today the company officially announced that it will be ditching the Nokia branding for its Lumia range and instead rebranding all new devices as ‘Microsoft Lumia’. This rebranding would be not come overnight however, but rather progress slowly, as Microsoft puts out new phone models.

And so ends one of the best known mobile phone brands in the world.

Who’s next you might ask? Our money is on Blackberry.