The Nokia Acquisition (post comments and questions here)

[iamtim]

So over on the Nokia conversations blog, turns out the Nokia/Lumia branding might not be used for future windows phones for sake of unity.

Where did you read that? MS is specifically buying the Lumia/Asha names. Why would they buy them and not use them? Just to make sure no one else does?

 

[seelani]

@iamtim: right here on WPC man. http://www.windowscentral.com/nokia-go-away-lumia-line-microsoft-seeks-unify-branding

 

[teckris]

You must have missed the endless comments on the main page and posts here about people abandoning WP now that MS acquired Nokia.

Yup. I missed the comments between #180 and#300

 

[z33dev33l]

Likely Android fanboys finding another way to compensate for their half-assed OS.

 

[cj-m]

Another pundit, filled to the ears with knowledge, adds their $ 0.02 worth to the story

Where Nokia Went Wrong : The New Yorker#!

 

[iamtim]

@iamtim: right here on WPC man. Nokia name to go away with the Lumia line as Microsoft seeks to unify branding | Windows Phone Central

Yeah, I read the original on the Nokia blog and walked away with a different interpretation. While WPC says this:

In other words, saying ‘Nokia Lumia 1020 with Windows Phone 8’ or any variation will eventually become a thing of the past. What it will be, remains to be seen but it’s clear that ‘Nokia’ won’t be used in future Lumia devices. In fact, it’s not even clear that ‘Lumia’ will be used either, though it could be phased out.

Nokia Conversations says this:

Microsoft will purchase the license to use the Nokia brand on mobile phones for ten years. It will also buy the ‘Lumia’ and ‘Asha’ brands.On smartphones, we’ll be seeking to create a unified brand across Lumia and Windows. But we understand that the Asha and feature phone range will carry on the ‘Nokia’ branding.

While I agree that "Nokia Lumia 1020 with Windows Phone 8' is both dumb and a mouthful, and I don't see why Microsoft would continue branding smartphones as "Nokia", I don't see anything aside of WPC's conjecture that "Lumia" is going away. That would be very short-sighted of Microsoft.

(Were I in charge of those kinds of things at MS, I'd either keep the tablets Surface and the phones Lumia, or rebrand both tablets and phones as Lumia.)

 

[JFH_2012]

Good deal for Nokia. MS pays them for a part of their business that was losing money, and Nokia gets to regroup with ample cash and 3 profitable business unites left. Two things I do not like:

Not being able to buy a Nokia branded handset for at least 2 years and 3 months.
MS being in full control of WP8 software and hardware. My interest in the platform has been severely diminished by this. I don't trust them to do anything right and in my mind Nokia was the only thing the WP ecosystem had going for it.

I do think Nokia will still produce devices in the future. They wont have the fancy optics at first, but nothing is stopping Nokia from building and selling Android handsets when the non compete clause ends January 1st 2016.

Of course, the company could be further split up, with NSN getting listed seperately. I hope they do not. Keeping the CTO office and NSN, together with HERE gives Nokia all it needs to come back to the consumer electronics space.

A sad day for me personally, but it could have been a lot worse.

 

[inteller]

well I've got bad news bud, it will be a LOT longer than 2 years 3 months before you see a Nokia branded handset. They just sold off everything related to making phones. That company is in no position to ever make phones again in any sort of mass production. More likely, they will license their name out to some crap phone maker to slap their name on it a la Polaroid.

 

[seelani]

@iamtim : seems like many people have their own perspectives on how things may work out. nothing is set in stone. hopefully as a new MS CEO takes over the helms, perhaps we will see the right decisions made to put out services that match up with nokia's powerhouse hardware.

 

[iamtim]

well I've got bad news bud, it will be a LOT longer than 2 years 3 months before you see a Nokia branded handset.

Yeah, I don't understand the romantic idea that white-hat Nokia will triumphantly return to the phone manufacturing market and save the world with Android phones.

Nokia is OUT as a phone manufacturer. Completely selling off their phone manufactories only to try again later is... bad business. And dumb.

 

[ag1986]

well I've got bad news bud, it will be a LOT longer than 2 years 3 months before you see a Nokia branded handset. They just sold off everything related to making phones. That company is in no position to ever make phones again in any sort of mass production. More likely, they will license their name out to some crap phone maker to slap their name on it a la Polaroid.

A la Apple, as well , just to show the other side of that particular coin

Almost no one makes their own electronics in entirety these days - the iPhone used to have (still does?) a lot of Samsung parts, including the display. Even Nokia phones do - I know that my old Nokia 5800's flash chip was a Samsung unit. IF Nokia, for some reason, chose to come back to smartphones, it would not be as difficult as you make it seem. They can control the design and outsource the production to Foxconn or another manufacturer, just like Apple and many other companies with quality hardware.

 

[Unicron109]

Am I the only person who wanted a N-Gage back in the day and is now secretly hoping this acquisition will lead to an Xbox phone? N-Gage was ahead of its time and now mobile phone gaming is huge and with the Xbox brand and games behind it. I continue my wishful thinking but glad this means Nokia will remain in the Windows Phone camp for good.

 

[tgp]

If Elop has taken the WP route just to gain CEO position in MS, Isn't that selfish?

If true, that would make him the first ever selfish CEO!

Sent from my Nexus 4

 

[JFH_2012]

I think you are wrong. If ubuntu failed to reach it funding target for a phone and estimated to need 30 Million to do it why wouldn't Nokia? With Billions in the bank and a real brand name they can use after the date I mentioned they could do this easily.

I am not saying they would do it in their own factories, or use the optics team they had, or most of the engineers that became MS employees. Of course that is gone. No need for you to point out what is so obvious.

The first Lumia's came from Compal. Perhaps the first new Nokia's, whatever OS they run, will as well.

@iamtim
"only to try again later is... bad business. And dumb."

Why? Nokia just got rid of a huge cost base and a BU that was in trouble. If they can return as a lean manufacturer, relying on 3rd parties to produce, they need to design and engineer the phone. With most parts being off the shelf anyway, and every SoC supporting Android, it would be a piece of cake. Ironically, the vastly reduced barrier to entry is exactly why Nokia got in trouble versus Indian brands like Micromax that used the same cheap components.

Of course, all of this may never happen. But if it does, Nokia as a company would be a reason for me to switch platforms, again.

 

[inteller]

Sorry, just slapping your name to a bundle of components doesn't make it Nokia.

 

[iamtim]

Why?

Because there's little to no opportunity. BlackBerry is on its way out. Had Nokia not picked up Windows Phone, they'd be joining BlackBerry (if not beating them to it). Microsoft - the company which controlled something like 90% of the desktop and 85% of the server market and spawned one of the richest men of all time - is facing one of the biggest uphill challenges of all time just to reach double-digit marketshare. And how are all those non-Samsung Android companies doing these days?

If Nokia couldn't do it with their own engineers and their own manufactories, why would they sink money into trying it with someone else's manufactories?

Right now, Nokia - because they got out of (or, more appropriately, are getting out of) phone manufacturing - is in the strongest position they've been in years. Why would their BoD risk that by re-engaging in a business they couldn't make work for them in the first place? Because they were once great? Again, that's just romantic idealism, hoping for a resurgence of "the good old days".

 

[JustToClarify]

Anything other than Symbian would require a lot of work and adaptation. It's not easy and it's time consuming.

Nokia's mistake was waiting too long before they made a decision to change. If they made Android handsets 2 yrs earlier they might have been fine.

If they made WP handsets one year earlier (at launch) they might have been fine. (mainly because of the money MS exclusivity gave them)

And actually, Nokia as a company still ended up doing just fine. Well, more than fine. They're doing pretty AWESOME with this deal.

yeah it must be soo awesome when you cease to exist...

I can't believe what I'm reading here.

 

[ChMar]

yeah it must be soo awesome when you cease to exist...

I can't believe what I'm reading here.

Nokia will exist as a service company. With the networking division and it's mapping division intact and all other services. What are you saying that because they don't make phones they simply don't exist as a company? They were not competitive enough in devices area so they had to let go. The same people that worked there now receive the paycheck from a different company. And nokia as an enterprise will exist with the rest of the services. I don't see where is the problem

 

[Rancorbeast]

MS + Nokia merger: what's gonna happen to my 920?

Just starting a thread to discuss what will happen after the merger. Here are some of the questions I have.

What will happen to warranty?
What about software updates?
The unlocked lumias are dependent on Nokia exclusive app like access point, will that keep on working?

Lets here what you guys think, theories, anxieties
Sent from my RM-820_nam_canada_200 using Board Express

 

[ChMar]

When a company buys another company they also buy their legal obligations (this is not bankruptcy is a company acquiring another company).
So you warranty is the same as before nothing has changed.
Software updates are the same as before since the people responsible for them are still there
The unlocked nokias are still supported just like the app updates.