Microsoft may drop the Nokia brand on smartphones within ten years’ time, upon the expiry of licence to use the brand name, according to Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, who would also be future chief of devices at the US software maker.
The US software major is in final stages of $7bn acquisition of Nokia’s phone and tablet business, which would leave the Nokia as a separate entity targeted among other things, on its ‘Here’ location services.
The Daily Telegraph cited Elop as saying that a decision was yet to be reached, and it would comprise inputs from both firms.
"What we have to decide is what the brand will be," Elop said.
"Because we have not decided what brand will be dominant for smartphones, that’s work that’s still ahead.
"And of course the way we’ll go through that process is to assess with consumers what they respond most positively to, what conveys the best message and the best hopes of success."
Upon the successful completion of the deal, about 32,000 employees from Nokia would join Microsoft, while the Finnish firm would retain its headquarters in Finland, chief technology office, and patent portfolio.
"Microsoft as a company, of course, has many brands: Xbox, Office, Surface and a variety of others," Elop added.
"We have brands like Lumia. So we’ll need to decide what the next step is from a branding perspective.
"There are hundreds and hundreds of millions of people who are familiar with and use Microsoft and Nokia technology, literally billions of people between the two companies.
"And I suspect that somewhere in there amongst all of those purchasing decisions there’s something that we can tap into."
This week aslo saw Nokia unveil new phablets and its first tablet in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
