Nokia feature phone business is rumored to be sold. Two years ago, Microsoft bought Nokia phone division. And now, Microsoft might decided to license the Nokia name to contract manufacturer Foxconn.

Nokia feature phone: it’s time to say goodbye

Two years ago, there was a huge acquisition between Microsoft and Nokia. Microsoft spent $7.2 billion buying Nokia phone division in September, 2013. And the deal took several months to be totally completed in 2014. Few months after the acquisition, the Lumia became the highlighted product of Microsoft. The company sold 8.5 million Lumia in the Q1 of 2015. But at this time, the business is declining. Things are about to get tougher.

According to VTech (Chinese website), Microsoft is planning to close their business in feature phone after a long hard period. During the first quarter of this year, they only sold 15 million handsets. And Foxconn is the name that’s reportedly interested in this business. Microsoft still has the right to sell these feature phones under this name until 2024 (the purchase of Nokia’s Devices and Services unit in 2014).

After closing the feature phones, Microsoft is rumored to fold the rest of Microsoft Mobile business (the Lumia smartphones) into the Surface group. This will make Surface Phone be the only device manufactured by Microsoft. And if this happens, about 50% of Microsoft Mobile current staffs will be in an unemployed condition. Since the last acquisition happened, this division has suffered more than 18,000 losses.

Microsoft with new direction

After being nearly 2 years together, Microsoft is not interested in feature phones anymore. This business is going down. At the moment, the company is focusing on business and enterprise segment with Windows Mobile delivery. Customer segment with feature phones is not the target. This giant software company is also believed to concentrate on the Surface Phone. And this Surface Phone is expected to be launch in 2017.