Microsoft Ad Erases Nokia Name From Lumia 520 Smartphones

Microsoft has removed the Nokia name from a Lumia 520 smartphone appearing in print ads announcing the software company's buyout of the Finnish phone maker.

A full-page advert appearing in the Telegraph on 13 September and the Sunday Times two days later shows the Lumia 520 - the best-selling of all Windows Phone 8 devices - in a range of colours, but with the Nokia name missing.

The company's name previously appeared centrally above the screen, as shown in the image above, used by Nokia in its promotional material.

On 3 September Microsoft announced its £4.6bn buyout of Nokia's phone making business, a deal which is due to be completed by early 2014 and will see Nokia CEO Stephen Elop return to Microsoft, the company he left in 2010 to kickstart Nokia's turnaround efforts, having been caught wrong-footed by the iPhone's arrival in 2007.

The printed advert states: "The Microsoft family will be getting bigger. And smarter. Microsoft welcomes Nokia's Devices & Services - and all their smart devices."

Microsoft also removed the Nokia name from a Lumia 520 used in an online advert, below, to explain its buyout of the phone maker.

As part of the acquisition, Microsoft agreed to a 10 year license arrangement with Nokia to use the Finnish company's name on current Mobile Phone products - feature phones and the budget Asha smartphones aimed at developing markets.

Smart devices

A Nokia spokesperson told IBTimes UK: "Microsoft would be able to the use Nokia name on Mobile Phones products. Our Mobile Phones team makes Nokia feature phones and Nokia Asha smartphones, whereas the Lumia products are made by the Smart Devices team and those would not carry the Nokia name."

Nokia will no longer have control of the Lumia brand, but the spokesperson added that because the deal won't close until the first quarter of 2014: "at the moment it's business as usual."

Both companies now find themselves in limbo while the buyout goes through an approvals processes with Nokia shareholders and regulators. Nokia is widely expected to announce a new 6in smartphone called the Lumia 1520 in October alongside a tablet running Windows RT - but it remains to be seen if these will be branded Nokia, or if Microsoft will bet on the deal going through and drop the name, as shown by the printed adverts.