>The announcement comes despite Microsoft agreeing to a 10-year deal to use the Nokia name on mobile products.<p>That clause either didn't have much bite, or was only a verbal side agreement/PR stunt and wasn't actually written into the acquisition agreement(s).<p>EDIT: This article[1] clarifies via the relevant quote:<p>>"Microsoft has also agreed to a 10-year license arrangement with Nokia to use the Nokia brand on current and subsequently developed Mobile Phones based on the Series 30 and Series 40 operating systems," Nokia said in a recent US filing.<p>Basically, Microsoft has the option to use the Nokia brand name and is presumably paying Nokia as part of the 10-yr brand license deal. Without knowing the specifics of the license agreement, Microsoft may have tied any transfer payments based on gross revenue from Microsoft Nokia-branded mobile products; simply dropping the brand name might be a convenient way to side-step any payments to Nokia if they had the foresight to add escape clauses to the agreement.<p>[1] <a href="http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/nokia-cannot-use-mobile-brand-post-microsoft-deal-until-2016-422340" rel="nofollow">http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/nokia-cannot-use-mobile...</a>
They only have the name exclusively until December 2015. After that point, Nokia can release mobile phones again under its own brand.<p><a href="http://followingjolla.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-small-print-three-ways-nokia-can.html" rel="nofollow">http://followingjolla.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-small-print-t...</a>
This whole deal, from the moment Elop went to Nokia, was a disaster in slow motion. That the current Lumias are so good, yet sell at unsustainable levels, shows just how fundamentally flawed Microsoft's strategy has been, and continues to be.<p>They've been solidly outplayed at their old embrace, extend, extinguish game, and unless they can get back into that mode mobile will just be dead to them.<p>And I say this as someone that would welcome a strong third player, because the App Store/Play Store duopoly is stagnating fast.
I think the problem with the lacklustre sales and drop in stature of the Nokia brand is not the Nokia name, it is the fact that the Windows phone operating system pales in comparison to Android and iOS. I do not mean "pales" as in Android or iOS is superior, I mean when it comes to the very thing most of us use our phones for (besides texting, email and making calls): applications and games, they are nonexistent on Windows Phone OS.<p>If Microsoft were to release a Lumia phone running Android, I would definitely buy one, no question or doubt about it. The latest Lumia phones are incredible pieces of hardware; nice design, nice internal hardware, responsive touchscreen, good battery life and one of the best cameras in a phone currently on the market.<p>It is so painfully obvious and as usual, Microsoft just do not get it. They have some of the best phones on the market, but they go relatively unnoticed because they're running an operating system most people are not interested in using or dislike. I have a Samsung Galaxy S5, but if I had a choice of a Lumia phone like the Lumia 930 running Android, I would have bought that instead. I have longed for a Lumia phone running Android for a while now.<p>Microsoft should just ditch Windows Phone OS or at the very least, sell two variants, give the customers a choice, do not make them have one over the other. One running Android and the other Windows. I can already tell you which version would be more popular.<p>I feel as though the reason the flagship Lumia phones are not running Android is because Microsoft feels like it would be admitting defeat. They have invested a lot of money in the operating system, purchase of Nokia and continued development of new phone models, it has become more of a pride thing now and the fact they have committed to Windows Phone OS so much they could not easily back out from it even if they wanted too.<p>Free the hardware. Give consumers choice. If you prefer Windows Phone OS, then buy a Lumia running Windows Phone OS or if you are like many consumers out there wanting to stay up-to-date and having access to the latest games and applications, buy a Lumia running Android.