Microsoft completed the acquisition of Nokia’s Mobile division late last month to start a new leaf for the company. The acquisition news was made public sometime back and was a big surprise to many who did not expect Microsoft to go ahead with it. And if it went ahead, many feared that Government bottlenecks would delay or even block the acquisition. This was not the case as the acquisition went ahead with minor hurdles.
After the acquisition, Microsoft revealed that it would not continue to using the Nokia or Lumia brand names on the next devices it produces from the newly acquired mobile division. Most people including me thought that Microsoft would cut back on Nokia’s progress and drop some of its devices such as the company’s current Android devices, Nokia X series. I mean, this would make sense since Microsoft now owns both Windows Phone OS and Nokia devices and on the other hand Android is owned by its rival Google.
Well, it seems Microsoft will not drop Nokia X after all as the company is rumored to be developing the next generation Nokia X devices. According to BGR India, the next Android powered device from Microsoft is being developed and will have a dedicated home button. This is because of the numerous complaints the company has received from users who said it was difficult to use the Nokia X devices with no dedicated home buttons.
The Nokia X series of Smartphones were introduced to target the lower end of the smartphone market and got positive feedback worldwide. Here in Kenya, the devices were launched but had their prices encroaching the Lumia 520 and Lumia 630 price territories and my guess is that they may not sell as much as Nokia would have wanted. All in all, this news from Microsoft is good and I hope they keep the Nokia X series alive and work on even lower price points.