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Home / News / Microsoft will end Windows Phone and Nokia branding

Microsoft will end Windows Phone and Nokia branding

The general Windows banner will soon cover phones as well, but Lumia lives

According to multiple reports out tonight, Microsoft intends to discontinue use of the Windows Phone and Nokia brands for its smartphones and mobile OS, all in hopes of simplifying its message.

Beginning this holiday season, Microsoft’s marketing campaigns will simply use the Windows banner to advertise handsets that run its operating system, while its own hardware will cease to use the Nokia brand following the acquisition of its device business (the Lumia name will remain).

GeeksOnGadgets was first to report the news, based on a leaked document, and The Verge has since confirmed the moves with its own Microsoft sources.

The most notable new flagship running the OS, the HTC One (M8) for Windows, already very clearly positions it as a general Windows device, while The Verge reports that recent American commercials have cut the Windows Phone branding.

As Windows moves away from being a traditional PC brand and infiltrates more types of devices, it seems clear that Microsoft wants to stop segmenting its market and make it clear that Windows is Windows in all flavors, however you choose to use it.

Ultimately, it probably only means that instead of writing about “Windows Phone” the brand, we’ll be covering a “Windows phone” in the future. Semantics!

[Sources: GeeksOnGadgets, The Verge]

READ MORE: All versions of Microsoft Windows to become one

Profile image of Andrew Hayward Andrew Hayward Freelance Writer

About

Andrew writes features, news stories, reviews, and other pieces, often when the UK home team is off-duty or asleep. I'm based in Chicago with my lovely wife, amazing son, and silly cats, and my writing about games, gadgets, esports, apps, and plenty more has appeared in more than 75 publications since 2006.

Areas of expertise

Video games, gadgets, apps, smart home

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