Goodbye Lumia

When you heard the word ‘Lumia’ what is the first thing that pops your mind? Let us guess: long-lasting battery, reliability, Windows OS? Many adjectives can be related to performances of Lumia brand. But, where is Lumia now? Is this colorful and cheerful phone family really gone for good?

The harsh truth about Lumia

According to Microsoft, Lumia will be present on the market by the end of this year. In 2017, you will not be able to purchase Lumia phones any longer. As you may notice in the last couple of months, you could get a significant discount and well-known sales stimulation - by-one-get-one if you're interested in Lumia phone. Also, stores (especially in the United States) had begun to give weekly discounts to get rid of the remaining supplies. The decision to discontinued Lumia is not a big surprise. We have been watching how Lumia market share is melting over the years, and now it has come to an end. So, all that we have left to do is to say goodbye to this inspiring and colorful smartphone family.

Reasons why Lumia is going away

As we mentioned before, it is evident that Lumia has some troubles for a while now: 1. There are too many problems with an old platform, for which application developers have lost interest. It's no wonder, knowing the undeniable fact that Windows phone market share at the beginning of 2016 was approximately 1%. 2. The more important reason is the strategic decision that Microsoft made of changing their focus. Nowadays, it is primarily oriented on business users and brand enthusiasts.

Why is this all happening to Lumia and where did it all begin?

It all started when Microsoft first bought Nokia in 2014. At that time, the smartphone market was anxious to see what this collaboration can offer. Since Microsoft’s way of doing business is creating high-performance products with low cost, Asha and Lumia brands had a good chance to succeed. Sadly, this is not how the story ended. After the initial success with Lumia, we have seen the decrease in interest. Microsoft had fought to keep Lumia on the market for quite a long time. Unfortunately, Lumia lost the battle against strong competitors such as Samsung and Apple. Last year Microsoft wanted to revive some of Lumia products - 950 and 950 XL, but there were no market responses on this action. The first sign that Microsoft and Nokia collaboration is going to fail was the moment that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella referred to Nokia product simply as a way to put Windows on the market. On the contrary, the previous CEO, Steve Ballmer, has something different in mind - to make Nokia as big as Apple or Samsung are. In March this year, Microsoft announced that it is selling Nokia for $350 million dollars to a Finnish startup company FIH. FIH is now in charge of production of phones, smartphones, and tablets, while Microsoft is supporting existing Lumia products. Let’s not forget that Microsoft bought Nokia for $7,2 billion dollars, so you can imagine what a loss it is for them to sell the company for such a low price. Luckily for Nokia, there is another company that is coming to help - HDM global. HDM global and Nokia made a ten-year contract that includes giving branding rights and intellectual property licensing. In May 2016, HDM officially acquired the rights to use Nokia brand from Microsoft.

Is there going to be any replacement for Lumia?

Yes, definitely yes! Microsoft has created a new brand called Surface phone which should compete in the smartphone market and take Lumia's place. As you may guess, this is the product that will completely fulfill Nadella’s wish - a product that will simply sell Microsoft software and services. There are some rumors that Surface phone should cover a broad range of consumers - regular consumers, businesses, and geeky enthusiasts. Furthermore, there is no information about specification just yet, but it is expected to be listed as a high-end product. There are some predictions that Surface phones will be able in the spring of 2017, at the same time when Microsoft is also launching their update for Windows 10 - Redstone 2. Microsoft has a good chance if combining phablets and smartphones with Redstone 2. Also, Microsoft is now focusing on perfecting Surface Book, Surface Pro and HP Elite x3.

If I have Lumia, should I be worried?

Absolutely not! This change doesn’t affect current Lumia users. Microsoft is servicing and supporting existing devices. Surely, at some point, Microsoft will stop doing this, but that won’t happen for quite a while. To conclude - is Lumia departure a good or a bad thing? On the first sight, it might be a bad thing, but if you think about it - it is really not. Both Nokia and Microsoft are developing and creating something better that is more adaptable to the market. We are excited to see Nokia and Google work on a new project and definitely have some expectations when it comes to product design. On the other hand, Microsoft is changing target market and also device prices, which will be interesting to follow. All that is left to be said in the end is "Goodbye Lumia, you were an excellent phone, but unfortunately you couldn't struggle with challenges of modern times. That was awesome knowing you!"