Microsoft Mobile
Oy was a Finnish subsidiary of
Microsoft Devices involved in the development and manufacturing of
mobile phone
A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...
s. Based in
Keilaniemi,
Espoo
Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...
, it was established in 2014 following the
acquisition of
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...
's Devices and Services division by
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
in a deal valued at €5.4 billion, which was completed in April 2014. Nokia's then-CEO,
Stephen Elop, joined Microsoft as president of its Devices division following the acquisition, and the acquisition was part of
Steve Ballmer
Steven Anthony Ballmer (; March 24, 1956) is an American businessman and investor who served as chief executive officer of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014. He is the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He i ...
's strategy to turn Microsoft into a "devices and services" company. Under a 10-year licensing agreement, Microsoft Mobile held rights to sell feature phones running the
S30/
S30+ platform under the Nokia brand.
Originally Microsoft had established a major partnership with Nokia in 2011, in which the company exclusively produced
smartphone
A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...
s using the
Windows Phone
Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft Mobile for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design languag ...
platform, and promoted Microsoft services on its
feature phone
Feature may refer to:
Computing
* Feature recognition, could be a hole, pocket, or notch
* Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob
* Feature (machine learning), in statistics: individual measurable properties of the phenome ...
products (including
Bing
Bing most often refers to:
* Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer
* Microsoft Bing, a web search engine
Bing may also refer to:
Food and drink
* Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread
* Bing (soft drink), a UK brand
* Bing cherry, a varie ...
search). Microsoft also licensed
Here Technologies data for its own mapping services. While Nokia's resultant
Lumia range had the largest market share out of all Windows Phone vendors, Nokia's overall market share was falling rapidly due to competition from other major vendors, resulting in a dire financial situation. In September 2013, Microsoft announced its acquisition of Nokia's devices and services businesses, which closed with the formation of a Finnish subsidiary, Microsoft Mobile. On smartphones, the Nokia name was phased out in favour of Microsoft branding on future Lumia products.
While the Lumia range continued to be successful, especially with low- and mid-range devices targeting
emerging market
An emerging market (or an emerging country or an emerging economy) is a market that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not fully meet its standards. This includes markets that may become developed markets in the future or we ...
s, sales of both Microsoft-manufactured smartphones and feature phones began to see major declines, due primarily to the rapidly-deflating market share of Windows Phone. In 2015, Microsoft took a US$7.8 billion (~$ in ) write-down on the Nokia purchase, and announced layoffs of 7,800 employees, primarily within Microsoft's phone business. In May 2016, Microsoft abandoned its mobile business, selling the Nokia feature phone line and trademark rights to the Finnish startup
HMD Global
HMD Global (Human Mobile Devices) is a Finnish independent mobile phone manufacturer. The company is made up of the mobile phone business that the Nokia, Nokia Corporation sold to Microsoft in 2014, then bought back in 2016 by former executives ...
, and announcing that it planned to cut up to 1,350 positions in Finland and focus on offering its productivity services on competing mobile platforms. In 2017, Microsoft executive
Joe Belfiore revealed that Microsoft had ceased the development of new Windows phones and new features for
Windows 10 Mobile
Windows 10 Mobile is the fourth and final generation of Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile operating system, succeeding Windows Phone 8.1. First released in 2015, it was marketed by Microsoft as being an Windows 10 editions, edition of its Per ...
, citing the losses in market share and lack of app development.
History

With the acquisition of Nokia's devices and services division, Microsoft re-entered the smartphone market. In Microsoft's previous attempt,
Microsoft Kin, a result of the acquisition of
Danger, Inc.
Danger, Inc. was an American company specializing in hardware design, software, and services for mobile computing devices. Founded on December 9, 1999, its most notable product was the T-Mobile US, T-Mobile T-Mobile Sidekick, Sidekick (also known ...
, had been poorly received.
2011–2013: Partnership between Microsoft and Nokia

In February 2011, Nokia CEO
Stephen Elop and Microsoft CEO
Steve Ballmer
Steven Anthony Ballmer (; March 24, 1956) is an American businessman and investor who served as chief executive officer of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014. He is the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He i ...
jointly announced a major business partnership between the two companies, which would see Nokia adopt
Windows Phone
Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft Mobile for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design languag ...
as the primary platform for its future smartphones, replacing both Symbian and MeeGo. The deal also included the use of
Bing
Bing most often refers to:
* Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer
* Microsoft Bing, a web search engine
Bing may also refer to:
Food and drink
* Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread
* Bing (soft drink), a UK brand
* Bing cherry, a varie ...
as the
search engine
A search engine is a software system that provides hyperlinks to web pages, and other relevant information on World Wide Web, the Web in response to a user's web query, query. The user enters a query in a web browser or a mobile app, and the sea ...
on Nokia devices, and the integration of
Nokia Maps into Microsoft's own
mapping services.
Nokia announced that it would still release
one device running the MeeGo platform in 2011, but that it would devote fewer resources to future development of the platform, and would phase out Symbian entirely.
Aligning with Microsoft had been considered a possibility by analysts, due to Elop's prior employment with the company.
As Nokia was the largest mobile phone and smartphone manufacturer worldwide at the time,
it was suggested the alliance would help Windows Phone,
but from the beginning of 2011, until 2013, Nokia fell from #1 to #10 in smartphone sales.
In June 2011, Nokia was overtaken by Apple as the world's biggest smartphone maker by volume.
In Q2 2011, amid falling sales, Nokia posted a loss of
€
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...
368 million, after having realized a profit of €227 million in Q2 2010. In September 2011, Nokia announced it would cut another 3,500 jobs worldwide, including the closure of its
Cluj
Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...
factory in Romania, after having cut as many as 7,000 the previous April. In August 2011 Chris Weber, head of Nokia's subsidiary in the U.S., stated that "The reality is if we are not successful with Windows Phone, it doesn't matter what we do
lsewhere He further added, ''North America is a priority for Nokia
��because it is a key market for Microsoft.''
On 26 October 2011, Nokia unveiled its first
Windows Phone 7
Windows Phone 7 (WP7) is the first release of the Windows Phone mobile client operating system, released worldwide on October 21, 2010, and in the United States on November 8, 2010. It runs on the Windows CE 6.0 kernel. It serves as the successo ...
-based devices, the high-end
Lumia 800 and the mid-range
Lumia 710, at its Nokia World conference.
After this announcement, Nokia's share price fell about 14%, its biggest drop since July 2009. Nokia's smartphone sales, which had been increasing, collapsed.

Nokia reported sales "well above 1 million" of its Lumia line in 2011, 2 million sales for the first quarter of 2012, and 4 million for the second quarter of 2012, when Nokia sold only 600,000 smartphones (Symbian and Windows Phone 7) in North America. By comparison, Nokia had sold more than 30 million Symbian devices worldwide in Q4 2010 and the
Nokia N8
The Nokia N8 is a touchscreen-based smartphone developed by Nokia. Announced on 27 April 2010, the Nokia N8 was the first device to run on the Symbian^3 mobile operating system and it was the company's flagship device for the year. It was rel ...
alone had sold almost 4 million in its first quarter. In Q2 2012, 26 million
iPhone
The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
s and 105 million
Android phones shipped, compared to only 6.8 million devices with Symbian and 5.4 million with Windows Phone. In announcing an alliance with
Groupon
Groupon, Inc. is an American global e-commerce marketplace connecting subscribers with local merchants by offering activities, travel, goods and services in 13 countries. Based in Chicago, Groupon was launched there in November 2008, launching ...
, Elop declared, "The competition... is not with other device manufacturers, it's with Google." In June 2012, Nokia chairman
Risto Siilasmaa told journalists that Nokia had a contingency plan in the event that Windows Phone failed, but did not specify what it was.
On 8 February 2012, Nokia announced 4,000 layoffs at smartphone manufacturing plants in Europe by the end of 2012, to move assembly closer to component suppliers in Asia. Despite its commitment to the Windows Phone platform, Nokia continued to sell
Symbian
Symbian is a discontinued mobile operating system (OS) and computing platform designed for smartphones. It was originally developed as a proprietary software OS for personal digital assistants in 1998 by the Symbian Ltd. consortium. Symbian OS ...
(particularly the Nokia 808 Pureview) and Asha feature phones, which may have indicated a failure in the smartphone sector. On 14 June 2012, Nokia announced 10,000 layoffs globally by the end of 2013 and that it would shut production and research sites in Finland, Germany, and Canada, in line with continuing losses and the stock price falling to its lowest point since 1996. In total, Nokia laid off 24,500 employees by the end of 2013. On 18 June 2012,
Moody's
Moody's Ratings, previously and still legally known as Moody's Investors Service and often referred to as Moody's, is the bond credit rating business of Moody's Corporation, representing the company's traditional line of business and its histo ...
downgraded Nokia's bond rating to
junk status. Nokia's CEO admitted that the company's inability to foresee rapid changes in the mobile phone industry was one of the major reasons for the problems. On 4 May 2012, a group of Nokia investors filed a class action against the company, as a result of disappointing sales. On 22 August 2012, it was reported that a group of Finnish Nokia investors were considering gathering signatures for the removal of Elop as CEO. In December 2012, to cut costs during a period of falling revenues, Nokia announced that it would be selling its headquarters,
Nokia House, for €170 million, and leasing the use of it back long-term.
In January 2013, Nokia reported sales of 6.6 million smartphones for Q4 2012, consisting of 2.2 million Symbian and 4.4 million Lumia devices (Windows Phone 7 and 8). In North America, only 700,000 mobile phones were sold, including smartphones. In May 2013, Nokia released the
Asha platform for its low-end smartphone devices. ''
The Verge
''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...
'' commented that this might have been recognition on the part of Nokia that Windows Phones weren't selling at the bottom end of the smartphone market fast enough and that they might be "hedging their commitment" to the
Windows Phone
Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft Mobile for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design languag ...
platform. In the same month, Nokia announced its partnership with the world's largest cellular operator,
China Mobile
China Mobile is the trade name of both China Mobile Limited and its ultimate controlling shareholder, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd., a Chinese State-owned enterprises of China, state-owned telecommunicationsStrait deals ''The Econ ...
, to offer Nokia's new Windows-based phone, the
Lumia 920
Nokia Lumia 920 (codenamed ''Phi'') is a smartphone developed by Nokia that runs the Windows Phone 8 operating system. It was announced on September 5, 2012, and was first released on November 2, 2012. It has a 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Kr ...
, as the Lumia 920T, an exclusive Chinese variant. The partnership was a bid by Nokia to connect with China Mobile's 700 million-person customer base.
Following the second quarter of 2013, Nokia reported an operating loss of €115 million (£98.8 million), with revenues falling 24% to €5.7 billion, despite Lumia's sales figures exceeding those of
BlackBerry
BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...
's handsets during the same period. Over the nine-quarters prior to the second quarter of 2013, Nokia sustained €4.1 billion worth of operating losses. The company experienced particular problems in both China and the U.S.; in the former, Nokia's handset revenues were the lowest since 2002, while in the U.S., "Nokia continues to show no signs of recovery in the US market. High investments, high expectations, low results." In July 2013, Nokia announced that Lumia sales were 7.4 million for the second quarter of the year – a record high, but Windows Phones in general still lacked momentum and lacked global market share, although scoring progressively better than other competing mobile platforms such as BlackBerry.
In June 2013, despite Nokia's falling commitment to the Windows Phone platform, Nokia's share of that market was a dominant 83.3% of all such phones sold;
and by October 2013, Nokia's Lumia line held over a 90% market share of all Windows Phones in use.
A part of the reason Nokia couldn't make a profit was that their low priced
Nokia Lumia 520 dominated the market while high-end models barely sold.
2013–2014: Acquisition of Nokia's mobile phone business
On 2 September 2013, Microsoft announced that it would acquire Nokia's mobile device business in a deal worth €3.79 billion, along with another €1.65 billion to license Nokia's portfolio of patents for 10 years; a deal totaling over €5.4 billion.
Steve Ballmer
Steven Anthony Ballmer (; March 24, 1956) is an American businessman and investor who served as chief executive officer of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014. He is the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He i ...
considered the purchase to be a "bold step into the future" for both companies, primarily as a result of its recent collaboration. It was also part of Ballmer's long-term vision of transforming Microsoft into a "devices and services" company. Pending regulatory approval, the acquisition was originally expected to close in early 2014.
In an interview published in ''
Helsingin Sanomat
, abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of the Finnish capital ...
'', former Nokia executive Anssi Vanjoki commented that the Microsoft deal was "inevitable" due to the "failed strategy" of Stephen Elop.
In an ''Helsingin Sanomat'' interview from 2018, Nokia chairman
Risto Siilasmaa revealed that Microsoft were also in talks to purchase
HTC
HTC Corporation ( zh, t=宏達國際電子股份有限公司, p=Hóngdá Guójì Diànzǐ Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī, first=t), or High Tech Computer Corporation (abbreviated and trading as HTC), is a Taiwanese consumer electronics corporatio ...
, another Windows Phone vendor, before they opted to purchase the Nokia business.
In March 2014, it was announced that the acquisition of Nokia's mobile phone business would not be completed by the end of March as expected, but instead was delayed until April of that year due to problems with regulators in Asia. The acquisition of Nokia's mobile phone business by Microsoft was closed on 25 April 2014 for "slightly more" than the originally stated €5.44 billion.
Nokia's mobile phone assets became a part of Microsoft Mobile, a new subsidiary of Microsoft based in Finland.
While Microsoft licensed the Nokia brand under a 10-year agreement, Nokia agreed not to use its name on smartphones and to be subject to a
non-compete clause
In contract law, a non-compete clause (often NCC), restrictive covenant, or covenant not to compete (CNC), is a clause under which one party (usually an employee) agrees not to enter into or start a similar profession or trade in competition again ...
preventing it from producing any mobile devices under the Nokia name through 31 December 2015. Microsoft acquired the
Asha
''Asha'' () or ''arta'' (; ) is a Zoroastrian concept with a complex and highly nuanced range of meaning. It is commonly summarized in accord with its contextual implications of 'truth' and 'right' (or 'righteousness'), 'order' and 'right wor ...
and
Lumia brands as part of the deal, a license to use the Nokia name,
as well as the
Nokia PureView, ClearBlack, Surge, Mural, and Symbian-related trademarks.
Further, the deal included the acquisition of 8,500 design-related patents by Microsoft, and license on 30,000 "utility" patents on a non-exclusive basis for 10 years.
As part of the deal, a number of Nokia executives joined Microsoft:
Stephen Elop became the head of Microsoft's devices team (which oversees products such as
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
and
Surface
A surface, as the term is most generally used, is the outermost or uppermost layer of a physical object or space. It is the portion or region of the object that can first be perceived by an observer using the senses of sight and touch, and is ...
);
Risto Siilasmaa replaced Elop as interim CEO, before the appointment of
Rajeev Suri.
On 17 July 2014, it was reported that a major round of layoffs, totaling over 18,000 across the entire company, would occur at Microsoft over the following year. The majority of these layoffs were related to the integration of Nokia's former staff into Microsoft, in an effort to reduce redundancy. It was also reported that Microsoft had ended future development of Nokia's Asha, Series 40, and X lines, in favor of focusing exclusively on Windows Phone.
Shortly after the acquisition, Microsoft discontinued Nokia's
smartwatch
A smartwatch is a portable wearable computer that resembles a wristwatch. Most modern smartwatches are operated via a touchscreen, and rely on mobile apps that run on a connected device (such as a smartphone) in order to provide core functions. ...
prototype, codenamed "
Moonraker", dropping it in favour of the
Microsoft Band
Microsoft Band is a discontinued smart band with smartwatch and activity tracker/ fitness tracker features, created and developed by Microsoft. It was announced on October 29, 2014. The Microsoft Band incorporates fitness tracking and health-o ...
.
2014–2017: As a subsidiary of Microsoft, rebranding from ''Nokia'' to ''Microsoft'', divestment and closure
2014

Rebranding started in 2014. In March 2014,
Nokia Mail and Nokia Chat were closed, offering migration services to Microsoft's Outlook.com and Skype until April 2015.
All Nokia accounts were closed on 25 April 2015.
Most of Nokia's social media sites were rebranded as Microsoft Lumia
rather than Microsoft Mobile, to emphasize their focus on Windows Phone as opposed to other Nokia mobile phones. Windows Phone social network pages were rebranded as well,
Nokia Conversations being rebranded as
Lumia Conversations,
and NokNok.tv as Lumia Conversations UK.
The rebranding was not entirely consistent, as the Nokia Army, launched in 2012,
became the Spartan Nation. The support site for legacy phones, accessories, as well as other Nokia-branded devices and services, Nokia Discussions, was renamed the Microsoft Mobile Community.
In July 2014, it was reported by
evleaks that Microsoft was attempting to license the Nokia name in a co-branding scheme, which would have seen future devices branded as "Nokia by Microsoft".
After the acquisition of Nokia's mobile device business by Microsoft, several Lumia devices were unveiled by Microsoft Mobile in September 2014 that still carried the Nokia name, including the
Lumia 830 and
Lumia 735.
Nokia's mobile applications retained by Microsoft were rebranded as "Lumia".
In September 2014, Microsoft announced
Windows 10
Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. The successor to Windows 8.1, it was Software release cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on July 2 ...
operating system, a common platform for smartphones, tablets, laptops and Xbox. It was made available for their Lumia line of smartphones. Due to the position of Microsoft Lumia devices being first-party hardware by Microsoft, Lumia handsets were the first to receive the
Windows Insider preview.
In October 2014, Microsoft announced that future Lumia devices would be branded with the "Microsoft" name and logo rather than "Nokia".
In November 2014, Microsoft announced its first self branded phone,
Microsoft Lumia 535.
In November 2014 The
Lumia Beta Apps division launched the ''Lumia Cinemagraph Beta'' which migrated content from Nokia's website to
Microsoft OneDrive
Microsoft OneDrive is a file-hosting service operated by Microsoft. First released as SkyDrive in August 2007, it allows registered users to store, share, back-up and synchronize their files. OneDrive also works as the storage backend of the ...
and subsequently implemented this feature in Lumia Cinemagraph.
Previously cinemagraphs used to be synchronized via the Nokia Memories site, the change was made in relation to migrating all content from Nokia's sites to Microsoft's services.
In December 2014, Microsoft discontinued the
Nokia Sync service, which used Nokia's account service to synchronize contacts and general phone information, in favour of other offerings such as Microsoft OneDrive, which uses Microsoft accounts as part of the transition from Nokia accounts to Microsoft accounts.
2015–2017

To compete in developing markets, Microsoft launched various low- and mid-range devices—such as the
Lumia 430 Dual SIM,
532
__NOTOC__
Year 532 ( DXXXII) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Second year after the Consulship of Lampadius and Probus (or, less frequently, year 1285 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denom ...
,
435,
640
Year 640 ( DCXL) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 640 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming y ...
,
640 XL, and
540 Dual SIM—to boost Windows Phone sales and increase market share.
In Q2 2015, Lumia sold 10.5 million devices, compared to 8.2 million during the same quarter in the prior year.
As a consequence of the Microsoft Lumia 535 being as popular as its predecessor, the Nokia Lumia 520, in key markets such as India and Brazil,
Microsoft would not concentrate on releasing a high end Microsoft Lumia device until the launch of Windows 10.
In Q2 2015, feature phone sales declined year-over-year, with a total of 40 million being sold for a total revenue of $2.28 billion, and a gross margin of $330 million (14%), being significantly lower than previous years due to a global decline in the demand for feature phones in favour of smartphones.
In Q3 2015, Lumia sales increased 6.5% over the previous year,
a total of 8.6 million Lumia handsets being sold (an 18% increase). But with declining sales of 25.7 million non-Lumia phones, Q3 2015 showed a decline overall.
Despite the increased Lumia sales, costs exceeded sales revenue by $4 million, and Microsoft posted a loss of 12 cents per phone sold.
In February 2015, Microsoft stated that most Lumia devices would be able to upgrade from Windows Phone 8.1 to Windows 10 Mobile.
Joe Belfiore said that Microsoft was "working on" a limited version of 10 for low-end devices with 512 MB of RAM, citing the
Nokia Lumia 520, which at the time represented 24.5% of all Windows Phone devices sold.
On 28 April 2015, Microsoft opened the first Microsoft Priority Reseller Store, in the Indian city of
Gurgaon
Gurgaon (), officially named Gurugram (), is a satellite city of Delhi and administrative headquarters of Gurgaon district, located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest ...
,
Haryana
Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...
, as a move to rebrand all their Nokia stores worldwide. At the time Microsoft had 15,684 retail outlets and 324
Nokia Care centres. In addition to selling phones, the stores would also offer
Surface
A surface, as the term is most generally used, is the outermost or uppermost layer of a physical object or space. It is the portion or region of the object that can first be perceived by an observer using the senses of sight and touch, and is ...
and
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
devices. Of India's 8,872 stores only 441 would become priority resellers, while the rest would be rebranded as Microsoft Mobile Reseller stores.
On 3 June 2015, Microsoft announced the new Nokia Series 30+ powered
Nokia 105 and Nokia 105 Dual SIM devices, which would be primarily marketed to business and travelling users, first-time mobile telephone owners, and as "a back up device" for smartphone owners.
In Q4 2015, Microsoft managed to sell only 19.4 million feature phones, compared to 30.3 million in the prior year.
In June 2015, Microsoft took over
naming rights
Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...
to
Nokia Theatre L.A. Live, a 7,100-seat concert hall in Los Angeles, renaming it the Microsoft Theatre, supplying and installing new AV equipment, and renovating public spaces. L.A. Live's 40,000-square-foot outdoor plaza would be known as Microsoft Square; and Club Nokia, a 2,300 seat venue in the Plaza, would also be renamed.
On 8 July 2015, Microsoft announced a planned restructuring of Microsoft Mobile, including a $7.6 billion (~$ in )
write down on the acquisition of Nokia, planned layoffs of up to 7,800 jobs, and a plan to downsize its first-party smartphone business, releasing fewer devices per year and pulling out of underperforming markets. New Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated that the company planned to have a "more effective and focused phone portfolio", and aimed to "create a vibrant Windows ecosystem including our first-party device family."
In October 2015, Microsoft announced the first Lumia devices running on
Windows 10 Mobile
Windows 10 Mobile is the fourth and final generation of Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile operating system, succeeding Windows Phone 8.1. First released in 2015, it was marketed by Microsoft as being an Windows 10 editions, edition of its Per ...
, the
Lumia 950,
950 XL, and
550, the first two being high-end devices, the latter a budget phone.
In February 2016, the
Lumia 650, which runs on Windows 10 Mobile, was launched. It was primarily targeted towards mid-range consumers.
In April 2016, it was revealed that 2.3 million Lumia devices were sold in the previous quarter, a major drop compared to 2015. The rapidly falling sales, coupled with Windows Phone market share dropping below 1%, led to Microsoft announcing on 23 May the "
streamlining" of the business. It would lay off "up to 1,850 jobs worldwide", with up to 1,350 of those in
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
. The company also wrote off US$900 million from the Nokia acquisition. Microsoft planned to complete most of these job cuts by the end of 2016, with the rest being completed by July 2017. The company stated that it would continue to develop Windows 10 Mobile, support existing Lumia and future third-party devices (implicating that it would no longer produce new Lumia models), and "embrace other mobile platforms with our productivity services".
The same month, Microsoft sold its Nokia feature phone business to
HMD Global
HMD Global (Human Mobile Devices) is a Finnish independent mobile phone manufacturer. The company is made up of the mobile phone business that the Nokia, Nokia Corporation sold to Microsoft in 2014, then bought back in 2016 by former executives ...
, a Finnish startup backed by former Nokia executives. The
Foxconn
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (), Trade name, doing business as Hon Hai Technology Group () in Taiwan, Foxconn Technology Group () in China, and Foxconn () internationally, is a Taiwanese multinational corporation, multinational electron ...
subsidiary FIH Mobile acquired a factory in
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
, as well as other distribution and manufacturing assets, from Microsoft Mobile as well. HMD and FIH announced that they would collaborate on developing and manufacturing new devices under the Nokia trademark (having reached a new 10-year license for the brand, and the
Android-based
Nokia 6 smartphone as its first device), with input from Nokia on design and incorporation of its technologies.
In October 2017, Microsoft executive
Joe Belfiore revealed that Microsoft would no longer develop new phone hardware, and that Windows 10 Mobile would only receive maintenance releases and patches from then on, citing its low market share and Microsoft's abandonment of its mobile business.
Hardware products
Lumia

Lumia was a line of
touchscreen
A touchscreen (or touch screen) is a type of electronic visual display, display that can detect touch input from a user. It consists of both an input device (a touch panel) and an output device (a visual display). The touch panel is typically l ...
smartphone
A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...
s and, previously,
tablet computer
A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being computers ...
s, introduced in November 2011. All Lumia mobile telephones run on the
Windows Phone
Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft Mobile for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design languag ...
operating system. The only Lumia tablet
Lumia 2520, running
Windows RT
Windows RT is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft and released alongside Windows 8 on October 26, 2012. It is a version of Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 built for the 32-bit ARM architecture (ARMv7), designed to take advantage of th ...
, was introduced in November 2013 and has been discontinued. The Lumia is Microsoft's flagship phone portfolio.
In October 2014, Microsoft officially announced that it would phase out the Nokia brand in its promotion and production of Lumia smartphones, and that future Lumia models would be branded solely with the name and logo of Microsoft.
In November 2014, Microsoft announced its first self-branded phone,
Microsoft Lumia 535.
Rebranding the Lumia line from "Nokia" to "Microsoft" did not affect sales, though some critics believed that the change might influence consumers' decisions due to Nokia being an established phone brand, compared to Microsoft.
In October 2015, Microsoft announced the first Lumia devices running on
Windows 10 Mobile
Windows 10 Mobile is the fourth and final generation of Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile operating system, succeeding Windows Phone 8.1. First released in 2015, it was marketed by Microsoft as being an Windows 10 editions, edition of its Per ...
platform, the
Lumia 950,
Lumia 950 XL, and
Lumia 550
Microsoft Lumia 550 is a budget smartphone manufactured by Microsoft Mobile as part of its Microsoft Lumia, Lumia family of Microsoft Windows, Windows-based mobile computing products. It was introduced along with the Microsoft Lumia 950, Lumia 950 ...
. In addition. Microsoft stated that most Lumia devices would be able to upgrade from Windows Phone 8/8.1 to Windows 10, from December 2015.
In October 2017, Microsoft executive
Joe Belfiore revealed that Microsoft would no longer develop new phone hardware, and that Windows 10 Mobile would only receive maintenance releases and patches from then on, citing its low market share and Microsoft's abandonment of its mobile business.
For its Microsoft Lumia series Microsoft Mobile created such exclusive content as the
Lumia imaging apps (that make use of the
PureView technology on higher end Lumia devices) and new software was often tested through the
Lumia Beta Apps.
Nokia X
In mid-September 2013, a media report revealed that Nokia tested the Android operating system on both its
Lumia and
Asha
''Asha'' () or ''arta'' (; ) is a Zoroastrian concept with a complex and highly nuanced range of meaning. It is commonly summarized in accord with its contextual implications of 'truth' and 'right' (or 'righteousness'), 'order' and 'right wor ...
hardware. On 11 December 2013, a report showed that development of the Asha-like device, codenamed "
Normandy
Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
", was continuing, despite the finalisation of Nokia's acquisition by Microsoft. In February 2014, in Barcelona, Spain, the
Nokia X family was unveiled at
Mobile World Congress
MWC Barcelona (formerly but still commonly referred to as Mobile World Congress) is an annual trade show dedicated to the mobile communications industry.
The event is held in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain, at the Fira de Barcelona Gran ...
. These devices, which were aimed towards emerging markets, run a modified version of
Android known as
Nokia X Software Platform, which was aligned towards Microsoft services and did not use
Google Play Store
Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...
. In a company memo released in July 2014, it was announced that, as part of cutbacks, Microsoft would end the Asha, Series 40, and X range entirely, in favor of solely producing and encouraging the use of Windows Phone products.
Asha

The Asha series consisted of feature phones and low-end smartphones targeted mainly at emerging markets. The series has a mixture of full-touchscreen, "touch and type", QWERTY, and traditional
T9-keypad devices. Originally, the Asha devices ran on Nokia's veteran operating system
Series 40
Nokia Series 40 Platform, often shortened as S40, is a software platform and application user interface (UI) software that was previously used on Nokia's broad range of mid-tier feature phones from 2002 to 2014, as well as on some of the Vertu l ...
. Nokia later created the
Asha platform as a result of their acquisition of
Smarterphone. In May 2013, the
Asha 501 became the first device running under the new OS, and all new Ashas since have been running on the new Asha platform. During the July 2014 job cuts and restructuring at Microsoft, these device lines were moved to "maintenance mode", and would be discontinued, along with Nokia X and Series 40, in favour of solely producing Windows Phone products.
Series 40

Series 40, or S40, was a
software platform
A computing platform, digital platform, or software platform is the infrastructure on which software is executed. While the individual components of a computing platform may be obfuscated under layers of abstraction, the ''summation of the requi ...
and
user interface
In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine fro ...
(UI) based on
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
used for
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...
's broad range of mid-tier
feature phone
Feature may refer to:
Computing
* Feature recognition, could be a hole, pocket, or notch
* Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob
* Feature (machine learning), in statistics: individual measurable properties of the phenome ...
s, as well as on some of the
Vertu line of luxury phones. It was one of the world's most widely used mobile phone platforms. On 25 January 2012, Nokia announced that the company had sold over 1.5 billion Series 40 devices. Although S40 has more features than the
Series 30
Nokia Series 30, often shortened as S30, is a software platform and application user interface that was previously used by Nokia for its basic entry-level mobile phones. Unlike Series 40, Series 30 phones are not capable of running J2ME, Java a ...
platform, it was not used for smartphones, where Nokia primarily used
Windows Phone
Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft Mobile for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design languag ...
and, until 2012,
Symbian
Symbian is a discontinued mobile operating system (OS) and computing platform designed for smartphones. It was originally developed as a proprietary software OS for personal digital assistants in 1998 by the Symbian Ltd. consortium. Symbian OS ...
. However, in 2012 and 2013, several Series 40 phones from the
Asha
''Asha'' () or ''arta'' (; ) is a Zoroastrian concept with a complex and highly nuanced range of meaning. It is commonly summarized in accord with its contextual implications of 'truth' and 'right' (or 'righteousness'), 'order' and 'right wor ...
line, such as the 308, 309, and 311, were advertised as "
smartphone
A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...
s" although they did not support smartphone features like multitasking or a full-fledged
HTML
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It defines the content and structure of web content. It is often assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets ( ...
browser. In July 2014, it was announced that Microsoft would discontinue Series 40.
It was replaced by S30+, which was not compatible with
J2ME
Java Platform, Micro Edition or Java ME is a computing platform for development and deployment of porting, portable code for embedded system, embedded and mobile devices (micro-controllers, sensors, gateways, mobile phones, personal digita ...
apps.
Series 30+

Series 30+ is a software platform and user interface that was used by Microsoft Mobile for its entry-level mobile devices. The first Series 30+ device was the
Nokia 130, which had basic features such as a flashlight, FM radio, USB charging, video playback from microSD cards, and Bluetooth and USB connectivity, but no internet access. The
Nokia 215, released in 2014, allowed users to browse the internet with
Bing
Bing most often refers to:
* Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer
* Microsoft Bing, a web search engine
Bing may also refer to:
Food and drink
* Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread
* Bing (soft drink), a UK brand
* Bing cherry, a varie ...
and
MSN Weather and came pre-installed with
Opera Mini.
Most S30+ devices did not come with Wi-Fi and were marketed for developing nations, with the Nokia 105 making up the majority of sales. In June 2015, Microsoft further expanded the line of Nokia-branded feature phones with the
Nokia 105 aimed specifically at
developing nation
A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreeme ...
s, and named after an earlier model with the same target audience,
but marketed also towards present smartphone owners, being "perfect for those looking to own their first mobile phone or for those needing a reliable back-up phone for travel and fun."
In the third quarter of 2015, the
Nokia 222 was released. It featured a larger, 2.4-inch screen. In December 2015, the
Nokia 230 was the last Nokia phone from Microsoft. It had an aluminium body, a 2 megapixel front-facing camera, and a dedicated selfie camera key. Series 30+ still lives today as part of
HMD Global
HMD Global (Human Mobile Devices) is a Finnish independent mobile phone manufacturer. The company is made up of the mobile phone business that the Nokia, Nokia Corporation sold to Microsoft in 2014, then bought back in 2016 by former executives ...
.
Series 30
Series 30, or S30, was a software platform and
user interface
In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine fro ...
created by
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...
for its entry-level mobile devices. S30 phones are not capable of running
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
apps. By mid 2014, Microsoft discontinued S30 for its Nokia-branded mobile devices.
Mobile accessories
Besides phones Microsoft Mobile also produces mobile-phone accessories such as the Bluetooth enabled Treasure Tags. In newer devices Microsoft has bundled the Swedish company Colourd's headsets as opposed to first-party hardware.
In late 2014, Microsoft launched a portable battery charger called Microsoft Portable Power,
succeeded by Microsoft Portable Dual Chargers.
Treasure Tag
Treasure Tag, originally Nokia Treasure Tag, is an
NFC and
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is li ...
enabled
keychain
A keychain () (also keyring) is a small ring or chain of metal to which several keys, or fobs can be attached. The terms keyring and keychain are often used interchangeably to mean both the individual ring, or a combined unit of a ring and fob ...
companion to Lumia devices. When Treasure Tags are attached to small valuables, such as keys or wallets, the Lumia device can show a map to help locate them.
Treasure Tag Mini, originally Nokia Treasure Tag Mini, was launched by Microsoft in 2014 as a successor to the original Treasure Tag. It added support for iOS, Android (including Nokia X devices) and Microsoft feature phones (Such as the
Nokia 105). Compared to the original, the Treasure Tag Mini comes in fewer colours, has shorter battery life, lacks NFC capabilities, and has no notification tones.
Corporate affairs
Corporate governance
When Nokia's devices and services group entered Microsoft's workforce, former Nokia CEO
Stephen Elop became the new head of Microsoft Devices, which includes other
hardware such as the
Surface
A surface, as the term is most generally used, is the outermost or uppermost layer of a physical object or space. It is the portion or region of the object that can first be perceived by an observer using the senses of sight and touch, and is ...
and
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
. Elop was joined by Nokia executives Jo Harlow (smart devices), Juha Putkiranta (operations), Timo Toikkanen (feature phones), and Chris Weber (sales and marketing), who gained similar positions at Microsoft. Microsoft Devices retained most of Nokia's groups, including the hardware and studios teams, while software teams were merged with Microsoft's respective teams.
The transition worked without much complication, as Elop had previously reorganised Nokia's structure to be similar to Microsoft's.
Many former Nokia executives have joined other projects at Microsoft, an example being Pasi Saarikko who became Principal Hardware Engineering Manager at the
Microsoft HoloLens
Microsoft HoloLens is an augmented reality (AR)/ mixed reality (MR) headset developed and manufactured by Microsoft. HoloLens runs the Windows Mixed Reality platform under the Windows 10 operating system. Some of the positional tracking tech ...
project.
On 17 June 2015, as part of a reorganisation, Microsoft announced that former Nokia executives
Stephen Elop,
and Jo Harlow would be leaving the company.
As part of the structural reorganisation of Microsoft the Devices and Studios group was merged with the Operating Systems group to form the new Windows and Devices group, which is headed by
Terry Myerson.
Other than Microsoft Lumia, this new engineering group includes Microsoft hardware divisions such as
Surface
A surface, as the term is most generally used, is the outermost or uppermost layer of a physical object or space. It is the portion or region of the object that can first be perceived by an observer using the senses of sight and touch, and is ...
,
Band,
HoloLens, and
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
, as well as the
Windows
Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
operating system.
Headquarters
Microsoft Mobile's
head office was Microsoft Talo in
Keilaniemi,
Espoo
Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...
, Finland. The building was previously named Nokia House, and was part of Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia's device business, becoming Microsoft Mobile's headquarters in April 2014 and receiving its new name. It is now occupied by both Microsoft Finland
and
Tieto
Tietoevry Corporation (natively Tietoevry Oyj, Tieto prior to June 2019) is a Finnish IT software and service company providing IT and product engineering services. Tietoevry is domiciled in Espoo, Finland, and the company's shares are listed o ...
.
See also
*
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...
*
Microsoft Kin
*
Zune HD
*
Danger, Inc.
Danger, Inc. was an American company specializing in hardware design, software, and services for mobile computing devices. Founded on December 9, 1999, its most notable product was the T-Mobile US, T-Mobile T-Mobile Sidekick, Sidekick (also known ...
*
HMD Global
HMD Global (Human Mobile Devices) is a Finnish independent mobile phone manufacturer. The company is made up of the mobile phone business that the Nokia, Nokia Corporation sold to Microsoft in 2014, then bought back in 2016 by former executives ...
*
Jolla
Notes
References
External links
*
Official blog"Microsoft Mobile Oy – tässä on nokialaisten uusi koti" (Microsoft Mobile – this is the kind of Nokia new home) Talouselämä, 12 December 2013 (Finnish)
{{Major mobile device companies
2014 establishments in Finland
2017 disestablishments in Finland
Mobile phone companies of Finland
Microsoft acquisitions
Microsoft subsidiaries
Microsoft Windows
Mobile phone manufacturers
Nokia
Electronics companies established in 2014
Telecommunications equipment vendors
Windows Phone
Defunct mobile phone manufacturers
Finnish companies established in 2014