Nokia-Microsoft deal is going to close soon and a leaked Nokia letter to its existing Devices and Services business suppliers base reveals two interesting things. First revelation is about renaming of Nokia Oyj to Microsoft Mobile Oy, which will be a wholly-owned Microsoft subsidiary and may be the name of Microsoft’s mobile devices arm.
Microsoft Mobile Oy? Too easy.
I thinkt that is what matters the most.
No, they won’t, as far as I know.
That *could* be a huge issue.
“Microsoft is acquiring Nokia’s Smart Devices business unit, including the Lumia brand and products…Microsoft will acquire the Asha brand and will license the Nokia brand for use with current Nokia mobile phone products. Nokia will continue to own and manage the Nokia brand.”
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/2013/sep13/09-02announcem…
Legalese needs to be read carefully.
Does this mean there will be both Nokia Lumias and Microsoft Lumias on the market at the same time?
Well, obviously MS could use Surface or some other brand, but it seems like it might be confusing if there are two brands using the Lumia name (plenty of people won’t know for a while that MS bought Nokia). It might create the idea that Lumia is a generic name for Windows Phones*, making life even tougher on other manufacturers as no one knows what the heck an Ativ is.
*Or is it Windows Phone Phones? Both sound wrong to me because of the double plurals or double ‘phone’s.
Too late to edit, but I wanted to add that I’m not bothered by Windows PCs, despite that also being a double plural, so I guess in theory I would get used to Windows Phones, although their lack of success might delay or prevent the requisite familiarity.
Edited 2014-04-21 21:20 UTC
Is Windows PCs double plural? There is the windows part and the PCs part.
Windows is the name of the product and is singular. As in:
What operating system is that? That is Windows.
And not as in:
These are windows. or That are windows.
I hope its understood that PC stands for personal computer. Which is singular.
Edit:
But I guess that also holds for windows phone phones, but the double phone is stupid. But if they bury one in an abreviation, that’s ok. ala ATM machines.
Edited 2014-04-21 21:57 UTC
In layman’s terms – There will be no more Lumia’s with Nokia brand, but Nokia Asha will be produced by Microsoft Mobile Oy.
Oy? Seriously? Oyj actually meant something. But oy?
Maybe they meant http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oi!
It means “osakeyhtiö.” It’s what big corporations use, it translates to “corporation” or “joint stock company.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oy
maybe this one: Oy vey Oy, a Yiddish exclamation of chagrin, dismay, exasperation or pain
But I’m Scottish-descended, so instead I’d say “oy shit!”
It might come as a surprise but there are other languages on this planet than English.
Making fun of a company’s name can’t be done enough, but in this case, it’s not a good idea. Everyone with a basic knowledge of the interwebs knows about Google Translate, which readily tells us that ‘Nokia Oyj’ in Finnish is ‘Nokia Corporation’ in English, and that ‘Microsoft Mobile Oy’ simply means ‘Microsoft Mobile Ltd’. Usually, these postfixes aren’t used and this story beautifully explains why.
Of course I know what it means – that doesn’t make it any less fun-sounding, though.
Indeed, as Mel Brooks might say, “Oy the agony, Oy the shame…”
Why is it any more hilarious than BV or NV? I think both Besloten vennootschap and Naamloze vennootschap sound absolutely hilarious, but I’m not childish enough to make fun of your language/culture because of them. Making fun of the Finns, and their language, sits well with you then?
I’m not making fun of their language – I’m making fun of the fact that ‘oy’ in English is associated with something else. It’s inter-language wordplay.
I don’t need to make fun of the Finnish language. Finns do that all by themselves just fine.
Actually it’s Yiddish, not English, but yes, “Microsoft Mobile Oy” is pretty funny to a non-Finnish speaker.
Edit: And my wholly American brain forgot that “oy” is also a British colloquialism. Sorry.
Edited 2014-04-22 22:54 UTC
In other, related news …
The Finnish pitchfork and torch markets are skyrocketting!
Seriously …
This hostile takeover has been so obvious from the beginning. Nokia was such a great company once. This is not an honorable way to go.
Even though i use android, i have nothing against windows phone. I think it works/looks great. I wish it the best in the marketplace, but …
I won’t buy one, not after seeing what MS did to nokia.
according to a Norwegian financial newssite, there are some changes to the deal as well.
Microsoft will not take with them a factory in Korea, and will probably exclude a factory in India as well.
They cite FT: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/a9715754-c967-11e3-89f8-00144feabdc0…
unfortunately it is paywalled, so I’m unable to figure out how much is changed.