Nokia to dump Ovi brand

Dylan Bushell-Embling
17 May 2011
00:00

Nokia has announced plans to drop its Ovi mobile services brand.

In a blog post, Nokia said each of its Ovi services will be rebranded as Nokia services, starting with some new devices in July.

The brand change will be implemented for existing Nokia users through software updates, and should be complete across all countries and services by the end of 2012.

How the rebranding will affect future plans for Nokia's Ovi Store is unclear, but Nokia earlier this year suggested the company could combine its app store with Microsoft's Marketplace once it transitions to using Windows Phone 7.

Nokia launched Ovi Store in 2009, and this year started working with operators – starting with India's Rcom, to develop versions of the store that are customized by country.

But as the Telegraphpoints out, the store has gained limited traction compared to Android Market and the Apple App Store. There are exceptions, such as in China where analysts have estimated it has a 65% share of the app store market.

Separately, IT commentator Eldar Murtazin yesterday tweeted a rumor that Nokia was planning to next week start discussions over the sale of its mobile phone business to Microsoft.

But a Nokia communications director, Mark Squires, soon countered with a tweet of its own. “We typically don’t comment on rumors,” he wrote. “But we have to say that Eldar’s rumors are getting obviously less accurate with every passing moment.”

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