All future smartphones will be under the Microsoft brand: Ajey Mehta

Interview with Managing Director, Nokia India Sales

This article has been modified. Please read the clarification at the end.

Microsoft, which acquired Nokia's mobile phone business for $7.2 billion in April, has made a lot of changes in the past few months. The Nokia name will never appear on any of the future smartphones that it will bring in the market. Ajey Mehta, managing director, Nokia India Sales Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Microsoft Mobile Oy, speaks to Sounak Mitra on the road ahead. Edited excerpts:

Is this the end of Brand Nokia?

For smartphones, yes. From today, all future smartphones from Microsoft will be under the Microsoft brand. However, we will continue to launch new products under the Nokia brand in the feature phones segment, still a large part of our volume and growing. We have a 10-year licence for the Nokia brand. Still, how long Nokia-branded products will come from the Microsoft stable is a global decision yet to be taken.

What was the need for scrapping the Nokia brand, especially when you kept the sub-brand of Lumia?

This is part of the transition. Lumia is a category and the parent has decided to utilise the value of Microsoft as a brand. Microsoft is one the most valued and favoured of global brands. Nokia will stay in the first segment, larger in terms of volume and mass market.

What is the pricing differentiation for brand Nokia and brand Microsoft?

Entry-level handsets not exceeding Rs 5,000 will come under the Nokia brand and all smartphones under Microsoft. However, existing smartphones which carry the Nokia name will be there. The task is to grow Windows phones as a category; Windows comes from Microsoft. Under the Microsoft brand, there will be affordable smartphones, mid-level and top-end flagship smartphones. We intend to drive the affordable smartphone as a category. This segment (Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000) is the fastest growing in India and we need to deliver the best services and applications. We have devices across segments and we are democratising across price points. In the coming months, there will be more launches, including the affordable smartphones

Can Microsoft smartphones bring additional value for consumers, with better software and services offerings?

Today, we launched the Microsoft Lumia 535 Dual SIM, priced at Rs. 9,199 in India. The device will be available in the market from Friday. The younger tech natives are increasingly looking at an uncompromised experience on their smartphones and with our rich software and services, Microsoft brings the best possible value at the most affordable proposition. We'll increasingly make more features like the Bing search engine and One Drive storage solution at lower costs across smartphones, even in the entry segment.

A handful of companies, including the local handset makers, are starting to focus on service as a revenue generator. With Microsoft's strong hold in the software and services biz, will devices shrink soon to a small segment?

For Microsoft Mobile, devices will always be the key segment and main revenue generator. For the overall company, it would be different. On the other hand, enterprises will also stay as a key segment for us, as we expect that to grow at a faster rate.

CLARIFICATION
In an earlier version of this interview, Ajey Mehta had replied that there was no plan to make handsets in India and that  it won't be viable for the company. Microsoft Mobile has clarified that it has not evaluated any manufacturing plans in India. It imports all its handsets as of now and in the near future it will continue to import. The report was based on the spokesperson’s response to a question -- whether manufacturing handset in India is a viable option for the company or not. The question and answer are removed from this interview. We stand corrected.