106-553: Microsoft Mobile Oy was a Finland subsidiary of Microsoft Devices involved in the development and manufacturing of mobile phones . Based in Keilaniemi , Espoo , it was established in 2014 following the acquisition of Nokia 's Devices and Services division by Microsoft in a deal valued at €5.4 billion, which was completed in April 2014. Nokia's then-CEO, Stephen Elop , joined Microsoft as president of its Devices division following
212-454: A 2 megapixel front-facing camera, and a dedicated selfie camera key. Series 30+ still lives today as part of HMD Global . Series 30, or S30, was a software platform and user interface created by Nokia for its entry-level mobile devices. S30 phones are not capable of running Java apps. By mid 2014, Microsoft discontinued S30 for its Nokia-branded mobile devices. Besides phones Microsoft Mobile also produces mobile-phone accessories such as
318-623: A 7,100-seat concert hall in Los Angeles, renaming it the Microsoft Theatre, supplying and installing new AV equipment, and renovating public spaces. L.A. Live's 40,000-square-foot outdoor plaza would be known as Microsoft Square; and Club Nokia, a 2,300 seat venue in the Plaza, would also be renamed. On 8 July 2015, Microsoft announced a planned restructuring of Microsoft Mobile, including a $ 7.6 billion (~$ 9.55 billion in 2023) write down on
424-422: A 90% market share of all Windows Phones in use. A part of the reason Nokia couldn't make a profit was that their low priced Nokia Lumia 520 dominated the market while high-end models barely sold. On 2 September 2013, Microsoft announced that it would acquire Nokia's mobile device business in a deal worth €3.79 billion, along with another €1.65 billion to license Nokia's portfolio of patents for 10 years;
530-968: A Finnish startup backed by former Nokia executives. The Foxconn subsidiary FIH Mobile acquired a factory in Vietnam , as well as other distribution and manufacturing assets, from Microsoft Mobile as well. HMD and FIH announced that they would collaborate on developing and manufacturing new devices under the Nokia trademark (having reached a new 10-year license for the brand, and the Android -based Nokia 6 smartphone as its first device), with input from Nokia on design and incorporation of its technologies. In October 2017, Microsoft executive Joe Belfiore revealed that Microsoft would no longer develop new phone hardware, and that Windows 10 Mobile would only receive maintenance releases and patches from then on, citing its low market share and Microsoft's abandonment of its mobile business. Lumia
636-594: A budget deficit of less than 3% of their GDP, a debt ratio of less than 60% of GDP (both of which were ultimately widely flouted after introduction), low inflation, and interest rates close to the EU average. In the Maastricht Treaty, the United Kingdom and Denmark were granted exemptions per their request from moving to the stage of monetary union which resulted in the introduction of the euro (see also United Kingdom and
742-600: A consequence of the Microsoft Lumia 535 being as popular as its predecessor, the Nokia Lumia 520, in key markets such as India and Brazil, Microsoft would not concentrate on releasing a high end Microsoft Lumia device until the launch of Windows 10. In Q2 2015, feature phone sales declined year-over-year, with a total of 40 million being sold for a total revenue of $ 2.28 billion, and a gross margin of $ 330 million (14%), being significantly lower than previous years due to
848-592: A contingency plan in the event that Windows Phone failed, but did not specify what it was. On 8 February 2012, Nokia announced 4,000 layoffs at smartphone manufacturing plants in Europe by the end of 2012, to move assembly closer to component suppliers in Asia. Despite its commitment to the Windows Phone platform, Nokia continued to sell Symbian (particularly the Nokia 808 Pureview) and Asha feature phones, which may have indicated
954-510: A deadline to do so and can delay the process by deliberately not complying with the convergence criteria (such as by not meeting the convergence criteria to join ERM II). Bulgaria and Romania are actively working to adopt the euro, while the remaining states do not have a migration plan in progress. The euro is divided into 100 cents (also referred to as euro cents , especially when distinguishing them from other currencies, and referred to as such on
1060-553: A deal totaling over €5.4 billion. Steve Ballmer considered the purchase to be a "bold step into the future" for both companies, primarily as a result of its recent collaboration. It was also part of Ballmer's long-term vision of transforming Microsoft into a "devices and services" company. Pending regulatory approval, the acquisition was originally expected to close in early 2014. In an interview published in Helsingin Sanomat , former Nokia executive Anssi Vanjoki commented that
1166-592: A dire financial situation. In September 2013, Microsoft announced its acquisition of Nokia's devices and services businesses, which closed with the formation of a Finnish subsidiary, Microsoft Mobile. On smartphones, the Nokia name was phased out in favour of Microsoft branding on future Lumia products. While the Lumia range continued to be successful, especially with low- and mid-range devices targeting emerging markets , sales of both Microsoft-manufactured smartphones and feature phones began to see major declines, due primarily to
SECTION 10
#17328696897151272-501: A failure in the smartphone sector. n 14 June 2012, Nokia announced 10,000 layoffs globally by the end of 2013 and that it would shut production and research sites in Finland, Germany, and Canada, in line with continuing losses and the stock price falling to its lowest point since 1996. In total, Nokia laid off 24,500 employees by the end of 2013. On 18 June 2012, Moody's downgraded Nokia's bond rating to junk status. Nokia's CEO admitted that
1378-547: A foreign trading currency in Cuba since 1998, Syria since 2006, and Venezuela since 2018. In 2009, Zimbabwe abandoned its local currency and introduced major global convertible currencies instead, including the euro and the United States dollar. The direct usage of the euro outside of the official framework of the EU affects nearly 3 million people. Outside the eurozone, two EU member states have currencies that are pegged to
1484-416: A global decline in the demand for feature phones in favour of smartphones. In Q3 2015, Lumia sales increased 6.5% over the previous year, a total of 8.6 million Lumia handsets being sold (an 18% increase). But with declining sales of 25.7 million non-Lumia phones, Q3 2015 showed a decline overall. Despite the increased Lumia sales, costs exceeded sales revenue by $ 4 million, and Microsoft posted
1590-475: A loss of 12 cents per phone sold. In February 2015, Microsoft stated that most Lumia devices would be able to upgrade from Windows Phone 8.1 to Windows 10 Mobile. Joe Belfiore said that Microsoft was "working on" a limited version of 10 for low-end devices with 512 MB of RAM, citing the Nokia Lumia 520 , which at the time represented 24.5% of all Windows Phone devices sold. On 28 April 2015, Microsoft opened
1696-409: A major business partnership between the two companies, which would see Nokia adopt Windows Phone as the primary platform for its future smartphones, replacing both Symbian and MeeGo. The deal also included the use of Bing as the search engine on Nokia devices, and the integration of Nokia Maps into Microsoft's own mapping services . Nokia announced that it would still release one device running
1802-459: A major drop compared to 2015. The rapidly falling sales, coupled with Windows Phone market share dropping below 1%, led to Microsoft announcing on 23 May the " streamlining " of the business. It would lay off "up to 1,850 jobs worldwide", with up to 1,350 of those in Finland . The company also wrote off US$ 900 million from the Nokia acquisition. Microsoft planned to complete most of these job cuts by
1908-473: A number of special territories of EU members also use the euro as their currency. Additionally, over 200 million people worldwide use currencies pegged to the euro . The euro is the second-largest reserve currency as well as the second-most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar . As of December 2019, with more than €1.3 trillion in circulation, the euro has one of
2014-459: A period of falling revenues, Nokia announced that it would be selling its headquarters, Nokia House , for €170 million, and leasing the use of it back long-term. In January 2013, Nokia reported sales of 6.6 million smartphones for Q4 2012, consisting of 2.2 million Symbian and 4.4 million Lumia devices (Windows Phone 7 and 8). In North America, only 700,000 mobile phones were sold, including smartphones. In May 2013, Nokia released
2120-583: Is a major donor to the EFSF. To be included in the eurozone, countries had to fulfil certain convergence criteria , but the meaningfulness of such criteria was diminished by the fact it was not enforced with the same level of strictness among countries. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit in 2011, "[I]f the [euro area] is treated as a single entity, its [economic and fiscal] position looks no worse and in some respects, rather better than that of
2226-668: Is abbreviated to oyj ( pronounced [ˈoːˌʔyːˌjiː] ). A julkinen osakeyhtiö can be listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange . The term's Swedish equivalent is Abp ( publikt aktiebolag ). An oyj may be called a public limited company or public company in English and may use the abbreviation PLC or the term corporation in the company's English name, for example Finnair Plc , Remedy Entertainment Plc , Kone Corporation and Nokia Corporation . Euro (currency) The euro ( symbol : € ; currency code : EUR )
SECTION 20
#17328696897152332-524: Is also the sole currency in three overseas territories of France that are not themselves part of the EU, namely Saint Barthélemy , Saint Pierre and Miquelon , and the French Southern and Antarctic Lands , as well as in the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia . The euro has been adopted unilaterally as the sole currency of Montenegro and Kosovo. It has also been used as
2438-465: Is discouraged by the commission, as is the practice of certain shops of refusing to accept high-value euro notes. Commemorative coins with €2 face value have been issued with changes to the design of the national side of the coin. These include both commonly issued coins, such as the €2 commemorative coin for the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, and nationally issued coins, such as
2544-606: Is the official currency of 20 of the 27 member states of the European Union . This group of states is officially known as the euro area or, more commonly, the eurozone . The euro is divided into 100 euro cents . The currency is also used officially by the institutions of the European Union , by four European microstates that are not EU members, the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia , as well as unilaterally by Montenegro and Kosovo . Outside Europe,
2650-587: Is the term for a Finnish limited company (e.g., Ltd , LLC , or GmbH ). The Swedish-language term is aktiebolag , often abbreviated (in Finland) to Ab . The Swedish abbreviation is sometimes included, as in Ab Company Oy , Oy Company Ab , or Company Oy Ab . The abbreviations have been styled in many ways, such as Oy , OY , O.Y. , or even O/Y . The English form is Ltd. Julkinen osakeyhtiö (pl. julkiset osakeyhtiöt ) means "public stock company" and
2756-566: The Asha platform for its low-end smartphone devices. The Verge commented that this might have been recognition on the part of Nokia that Windows Phones weren't selling at the bottom end of the smartphone market fast enough and that they might be "hedging their commitment" to the Windows Phone platform. In the same month, Nokia announced its partnership with the world's largest cellular operator, China Mobile , to offer Nokia's new Windows-based phone,
2862-456: The Lumia 920 , as the Lumia 920T, an exclusive Chinese variant. The partnership was a bid by Nokia to connect with China Mobile's 700 million-person customer base. Following the second quarter of 2013, Nokia reported an operating loss of €115 million (£98.8 million), with revenues falling 24% to €5.7 billion, despite Lumia's sales figures exceeding those of BlackBerry 's handsets during
2968-828: The Lumia Cinemagraph Beta which migrated content from Nokia's website to Microsoft OneDrive and subsequently implemented this feature in Lumia Cinemagraph. Previously cinemagraphs used to be synchronized via the Nokia Memories site, the change was made in relation to migrating all content from Nokia's sites to Microsoft's services. In December 2014, Microsoft discontinued the Nokia Sync service, which used Nokia's account service to synchronize contacts and general phone information, in favour of other offerings such as Microsoft OneDrive, which uses Microsoft accounts as part of
3074-611: The Lumia imaging apps (that make use of the PureView technology on higher end Lumia devices) and new software was often tested through the Lumia Beta Apps . In mid-September 2013, a media report revealed that Nokia tested the Android operating system on both its Lumia and Asha hardware. On 11 December 2013, a report showed that development of the Asha-like device, codenamed " Normandy ",
3180-722: The Microsoft HoloLens project. On 17 June 2015, as part of a reorganisation, Microsoft announced that former Nokia executives Stephen Elop , and Jo Harlow would be leaving the company. As part of the structural reorganisation of Microsoft the Devices and Studios group was merged with the Operating Systems group to form the new Windows and Devices group, which is headed by Terry Myerson . Other than Microsoft Lumia, this new engineering group includes Microsoft hardware divisions such as Surface , Band , HoloLens , and Xbox , as well as
3286-509: The Nokia N8 alone had sold almost 4 million in its first quarter. In Q2 2012, 26 million iPhones and 105 million Android phones shipped, compared to only 6.8 million devices with Symbian and 5.4 million with Windows Phone. In announcing an alliance with Groupon , Elop declared, "The competition... is not with other device manufacturers, it's with Google." In June 2012, Nokia chairman Risto Siilasmaa told journalists that Nokia had
Microsoft Mobile - Misplaced Pages Continue
3392-616: The Windows operating system. Microsoft Mobile's head office was Microsoft Talo in Keilaniemi , Espoo , Finland. The building was previously named Nokia House, and was part of Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia's device business, becoming Microsoft Mobile's headquarters in April 2014 and receiving its new name. It is now occupied by both Microsoft Finland and Tieto . Osakeyhti%C3%B6 Osakeyhtiö ( Finnish pronunciation: [ˈosɑkeˌʔyhtiø] ; " stock company "), often abbreviated to Oy ( pronounced [ˈoːˌʔyː] ),
3498-407: The Windows Phone platform, and promoted Microsoft services on its feature phone products (including Bing search). Microsoft also licensed Here Technologies data for its own mapping services. While Nokia's resultant Lumia range had the largest market share out of all Windows Phone vendors, Nokia's overall market share was falling rapidly due to competition from other major vendors, resulting in
3604-591: The dobra of São Tomé and Príncipe was officially linked with the euro. Additionally, the Moroccan dirham is tied to a basket of currencies, including the euro and the US dollar, with the euro given the highest weighting. These countries generally had previously implemented a currency peg to one of the major European currencies (e.g. the French franc , Deutsche Mark or Portuguese escudo ), and when these currencies were replaced by
3710-501: The " eurozone ", some 347 million people in total as of 2023 . According to bilateral agreements with the EU , the euro has also been designated as the sole and official currency in a further four European microstates awarded minting rights (Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City). All but one (Denmark) current, and any potential future EU members, are obliged to adopt the euro when economic conditions permit. The euro
3816-652: The Asha devices ran on Nokia's veteran operating system Series 40 . Nokia later created the Asha platform as a result of their acquisition of Smarterphone . In May 2013, the Asha 501 became the first device running under the new OS, and all new Ashas since have been running on the new Asha platform. During the July 2014 job cuts and restructuring at Microsoft, these device lines were moved to "maintenance mode", and would be discontinued, along with Nokia X and Series 40, in favour of solely producing Windows Phone products. Series 40, or S40,
3922-591: The Bluetooth enabled Treasure Tags. In newer devices Microsoft has bundled the Swedish company Colourd's headsets as opposed to first-party hardware. In late 2014, Microsoft launched a portable battery charger called Microsoft Portable Power, succeeded by Microsoft Portable Dual Chargers. Treasure Tag, originally Nokia Treasure Tag, is an NFC and Bluetooth enabled keychain companion to Lumia devices. When Treasure Tags are attached to small valuables, such as keys or wallets,
4028-537: The ECB has sole authority to set monetary policy . The Eurosystem participates in the printing, minting and distribution of euro banknotes and coins in all member states, and the operation of the eurozone payment systems. The 1992 Maastricht Treaty obliges most EU member states to adopt the euro upon meeting certain monetary and budgetary convergence criteria , although not all participating states have done so. Denmark has negotiated exemptions, while Sweden (which joined
4134-581: The ECB's banknotes are put into circulation by the NCBs, thereby incurring matching liabilities vis-à-vis the ECB. These liabilities carry interest at the main refinancing rate of the ECB. The other 92% of euro banknotes are issued by the NCBs in proportion to their respective shares of the ECB capital key, calculated using national share of European Union (EU) population and national share of EU GDP, equally weighted. Member states are authorised to print or to commission bank note printing. As of November 2022 , these are
4240-419: The EU in 1995, after the Maastricht Treaty was signed) turned down the euro in a 2003 non-binding referendum , and has circumvented the obligation to adopt the euro by not meeting the monetary and budgetary requirements. All nations that have joined the EU since 1993 have pledged to adopt the euro in due course. The Maastricht Treaty was amended by the 2001 Treaty of Nice , which closed the gaps and loopholes in
4346-457: The European Union , the Latin alphabet version of euro is used (as opposed to the less common Greek or Cyrillic) and Arabic numerals (other text is used on national sides in national languages, but other text on the common side is avoided). For the denominations except the 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, the map only showed the 15 member states of the union as of 2002. Beginning in 2007 or 2008 (depending on
Microsoft Mobile - Misplaced Pages Continue
4452-678: The Lumia device can show a map to help locate them. Treasure Tag Mini, originally Nokia Treasure Tag Mini, was launched by Microsoft in 2014 as a successor to the original Treasure Tag. It added support for iOS, Android (including Nokia X devices) and Microsoft feature phones (Such as the Nokia 105 ). Compared to the original, the Treasure Tag Mini comes in fewer colours, has shorter battery life, lacks NFC capabilities, and has no notification tones. When Nokia's devices and services group entered Microsoft's workforce, former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop became
4558-466: The Maastricht and Rome Treaties. The 20 participating members are EU Outermost Regions : Overseas Territories : Special Autonomous Territories : Microstates with a monetary agreement: British Overseas Territory : Unilateral adopters: The following EU member states committed themselves in their respective Treaty of Accession to adopt the euro. However they do not have
4664-469: The MeeGo platform in 2011, but that it would devote fewer resources to future development of the platform, and would phase out Symbian entirely. Aligning with Microsoft had been considered a possibility by analysts, due to Elop's prior employment with the company. As Nokia was the largest mobile phone and smartphone manufacturer worldwide at the time, it was suggested the alliance would help Windows Phone, but from
4770-521: The Microsoft deal was "inevitable" due to the "failed strategy" of Stephen Elop. In an Helsingin Sanomat interview from 2018, Nokia chairman Risto Siilasmaa revealed that Microsoft were also in talks to purchase HTC , another Windows Phone vendor, before they opted to purchase the Nokia business. In March 2014, it was announced that the acquisition of Nokia's mobile phone business would not be completed by
4876-517: The Nokia brand in its promotion and production of Lumia smartphones, and that future Lumia models would be branded solely with the name and logo of Microsoft. In November 2014, Microsoft announced its first self-branded phone, Microsoft Lumia 535 . Rebranding the Lumia line from "Nokia" to "Microsoft" did not affect sales, though some critics believed that the change might influence consumers' decisions due to Nokia being an established phone brand, compared to Microsoft. In October 2015, Microsoft announced
4982-488: The Nokia brand under a 10-year agreement, Nokia agreed not to use its name on smartphones and to be subject to a non-compete clause preventing it from producing any mobile devices under the Nokia name through 31 December 2015. Microsoft acquired the Asha and Lumia brands as part of the deal, a license to use the Nokia name, as well as the Nokia PureView , ClearBlack, Surge, Mural, and Symbian-related trademarks. Further,
5088-579: The Portuguese escudos , which ceased to have monetary value after 31 December 2002, although banknotes remained exchangeable until 2022. A special euro currency sign (€) was designed after a public survey had narrowed ten of the original thirty proposals down to two. The President of the European Commission at the time ( Jacques Santer ) and the European Commissioner with responsibility for
5194-478: The US or the UK" and the budget deficit for the euro area as a whole is much lower and the euro area's government debt/GDP ratio of 86% in 2010 was about the same level as that of the United States. "Moreover", they write, "private-sector indebtedness across the euro area as a whole is markedly lower than in the highly leveraged Anglo-Saxon economies". The authors conclude that the crisis "is as much political as economic" and
5300-484: The United States were relatively strong creditors – gained attention in summer 2012 even as Germany received a debt-rating warning of its own. The euro is the sole currency of 20 EU member states : Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain. These countries constitute
5406-481: The acquisition of Nokia's mobile device business by Microsoft, several Lumia devices were unveiled by Microsoft Mobile in September 2014 that still carried the Nokia name, including the Lumia 830 and Lumia 735 . Nokia's mobile applications retained by Microsoft were rebranded as "Lumia". In September 2014, Microsoft announced Windows 10 operating system, a common platform for smartphones, tablets, laptops and Xbox. It
SECTION 50
#17328696897155512-447: The acquisition of Nokia, planned layoffs of up to 7,800 jobs, and a plan to downsize its first-party smartphone business, releasing fewer devices per year and pulling out of underperforming markets. New Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated that the company planned to have a "more effective and focused phone portfolio", and aimed to "create a vibrant Windows ecosystem including our first-party device family." In October 2015, Microsoft announced
5618-778: The acquisition, Microsoft discontinued Nokia's smartwatch prototype, codenamed " Moonraker ", dropping it in favour of the Microsoft Band . Rebranding started in 2014. In March 2014, Nokia Mail and Nokia Chat were closed, offering migration services to Microsoft's Outlook.com and Skype until April 2015. All Nokia accounts were closed on 25 April 2015. Most of Nokia's social media sites were rebranded as Microsoft Lumia rather than Microsoft Mobile, to emphasize their focus on Windows Phone as opposed to other Nokia mobile phones. Windows Phone social network pages were rebranded as well, Nokia Conversations being rebranded as Lumia Conversations , and NokNok.tv as Lumia Conversations UK. The rebranding
5724-464: The acquisition, and the acquisition was part of Steve Ballmer 's strategy to turn Microsoft into a "devices and services" company. Under a 10-year licensing agreement, Microsoft Mobile held rights to sell feature phones running the S30 / S30+ platform under the Nokia brand. Originally Microsoft had established a major partnership with Nokia in 2011, in which the company exclusively produced smartphones using
5830-448: The beginning of 2011, until 2013, Nokia fell from #1 to #10 in smartphone sales. In June 2011, Nokia was overtaken by Apple as the world's biggest smartphone maker by volume. In Q2 2011, amid falling sales, Nokia posted a loss of € 368 million, after having realized a profit of €227 million in Q2 2010. In September 2011, Nokia announced it would cut another 3,500 jobs worldwide, including
5936-514: The closure of its Cluj factory in Romania, after having cut as many as 7,000 the previous April. In August 2011 Chris Weber, head of Nokia's subsidiary in the U.S., stated that "The reality is if we are not successful with Windows Phone, it doesn't matter what we do [elsewhere]. He further added, North America is a priority for Nokia […] because it is a key market for Microsoft. On 26 October 2011, Nokia unveiled its first Windows Phone 7 -based devices,
6042-464: The coin to commemorate the 2004 Summer Olympics issued by Greece. These coins are legal tender throughout the eurozone. Collector coins with various other denominations have been issued as well, but these are not intended for general circulation, and they are legal tender only in the member state that issued them. A number of institutions are authorised to mint euro coins: The design for the euro banknotes has common designs on both sides. The design
6148-469: The common side of all cent coins). In Community legislative acts the plural forms of euro and cent are spelled without the s , notwithstanding normal English usage. Otherwise, normal English plurals are used, with many local variations such as centime in France. All circulating coins have a common side showing the denomination or value, and a map in the background. Due to the linguistic plurality in
6254-427: The company's inability to foresee rapid changes in the mobile phone industry was one of the major reasons for the problems. On 4 May 2012, a group of Nokia investors filed a class action against the company, as a result of disappointing sales. On 22 August 2012, it was reported that a group of Finnish Nokia investors were considering gathering signatures for the removal of Elop as CEO. In December 2012, to cut costs during
6360-437: The country that issued the coin. Euro coins from any member state may be freely used in any nation that has adopted the euro. The coins are issued in denominations of €2 , €1 , 50c , 20c , 10c , 5c , 2c , and 1c . To avoid the use of the two smallest coins, some cash transactions are rounded to the nearest five cents in the Netherlands and Ireland (by voluntary agreement) and in Finland and Italy (by law). This practice
6466-449: The country), the old map was replaced by a map of Europe also showing countries outside the EU . The 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, however, keep their old design, showing a geographical map of Europe with the EU member states as of 2002, raised somewhat above the rest of the map. All common sides were designed by Luc Luycx . The coins also have a national side showing an image specifically chosen by
SECTION 60
#17328696897156572-413: The day-to-day operating currency of its original members, and by March 2002 it had completely replaced the former currencies. Between December 1999 and December 2002, the euro traded below the US dollar, but has since traded near parity with or above the US dollar, peaking at US$ 1.60 on 18 July 2008 and since then returning near to its original issue rate. On 13 July 2022, the two currencies hit parity for
6678-454: The deal included the acquisition of 8,500 design-related patents by Microsoft, and license on 30,000 "utility" patents on a non-exclusive basis for 10 years. As part of the deal, a number of Nokia executives joined Microsoft: Stephen Elop became the head of Microsoft's devices team (which oversees products such as Xbox and Surface ); Risto Siilasmaa replaced Elop as interim CEO, before the appointment of Rajeev Suri . On 17 July 2014, it
6784-471: The development of new Windows phones and new features for Windows 10 Mobile , citing the losses in market share and lack of app development. With the acquisition of Nokia's devices and services division, Microsoft re-entered the smartphone market. In Microsoft's previous attempt, Microsoft Kin , a result of the acquisition of Danger, Inc. , had been poorly received. In February 2011, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer jointly announced
6890-402: The end of 2016, with the rest being completed by July 2017. The company stated that it would continue to develop Windows 10 Mobile, support existing Lumia and future third-party devices (implicating that it would no longer produce new Lumia models), and "embrace other mobile platforms with our productivity services". The same month, Microsoft sold its Nokia feature phone business to HMD Global ,
6996-414: The end of March as expected, but instead was delayed until April of that year due to problems with regulators in Asia. The acquisition of Nokia's mobile phone business by Microsoft was closed on 25 April 2014 for "slightly more" than the originally stated €5.44 billion. Nokia's mobile phone assets became a part of Microsoft Mobile, a new subsidiary of Microsoft based in Finland. While Microsoft licensed
7102-537: The euro ( Yves-Thibault de Silguy ) then chose the winning design. Regarding the symbol, the European Commission stated on behalf of the European Union : The symbol € is based on the Greek letter epsilon (Є), with the first letter in the word "Europe" and with 2 parallel lines signifying stability. The European Commission also specified a euro logo with exact proportions. Placement of the currency sign relative to
7208-543: The euro ). The name "euro" was officially adopted in Madrid on 16 December 1995. Belgian Esperantist Germain Pirlot , a former teacher of French and history, is credited with naming the new currency by sending a letter to then President of the European Commission , Jacques Santer , suggesting the name "euro" on 4 August 1995. Due to differences in national conventions for rounding and significant digits, all conversion between
7314-682: The euro , which is a precondition to joining the eurozone. The Danish krone and Bulgarian lev are pegged due to their participation in the ERM ;II . Additionally, a total of 21 countries and territories that do not belong to the EU have currencies that are directly pegged to the euro including 14 countries in mainland Africa ( CFA franc ), two African island countries ( Comorian franc and Cape Verdean escudo ), three French Pacific territories ( CFP franc ) and two Balkan countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark ) and North Macedonia ( Macedonian denar ). On 1 January 2010,
7420-449: The euro their currencies became pegged to the euro. Pegging a country's currency to a major currency is regarded as a safety measure, especially for currencies of areas with weak economies, as the euro is seen as a stable currency, prevents runaway inflation, and encourages foreign investment due to its stability. In total, as of 2013 , 182 million people in Africa use a currency pegged to
7526-421: The eurozone are also treated as domestic transactions; however paper-based payment orders, like cheques, have not been standardised so these are still domestic-based. The ECB has also set up a clearing system , TARGET , for large euro transactions. The euro was established by the provisions in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty . To participate in the currency, member states are meant to meet strict criteria , such as
7632-632: The first Lumia devices running on Windows 10 Mobile platform, the Lumia 950 , Lumia 950 XL , and Lumia 550 . In addition. Microsoft stated that most Lumia devices would be able to upgrade from Windows Phone 8/8.1 to Windows 10, from December 2015. In October 2017, Microsoft executive Joe Belfiore revealed that Microsoft would no longer develop new phone hardware, and that Windows 10 Mobile would only receive maintenance releases and patches from then on, citing its low market share and Microsoft's abandonment of its mobile business. For its Microsoft Lumia series Microsoft Mobile created such exclusive content as
7738-401: The first Lumia devices running on Windows 10 Mobile , the Lumia 950 , 950 XL , and 550 , the first two being high-end devices, the latter a budget phone. In February 2016, the Lumia 650 , which runs on Windows 10 Mobile, was launched. It was primarily targeted towards mid-range consumers. In April 2016, it was revealed that 2.3 million Lumia devices were sold in the previous quarter,
7844-532: The first Microsoft Priority Reseller Store, in the Indian city of Gurgaon , Haryana , as a move to rebrand all their Nokia stores worldwide. At the time Microsoft had 15,684 retail outlets and 324 Nokia Care centres. In addition to selling phones, the stores would also offer Surface and Xbox devices. Of India's 8,872 stores only 441 would become priority resellers, while the rest would be rebranded as Microsoft Mobile Reseller stores. On 3 June 2015, Microsoft announced
7950-585: The first time in nearly two decades due in part to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine . Then, in September 2022, the US dollar again had a face value higher than the Euro, at around US dollar 0.95 per euro. The euro is managed and administered by the European Central Bank (ECB, Frankfurt am Main ) and the Eurosystem , composed of the central banks of the eurozone countries. As an independent central bank,
8056-693: The high-end Lumia 800 and the mid-range Lumia 710 , at its Nokia World conference. After this announcement, Nokia's share price fell about 14%, its biggest drop since July 2009. Nokia's smartphone sales, which had been increasing, collapsed. Nokia reported sales "well above 1 million" of its Lumia line in 2011, 2 million sales for the first quarter of 2012, and 4 million for the second quarter of 2012, when Nokia sold only 600,000 smartphones (Symbian and Windows Phone 7) in North America. By comparison, Nokia had sold more than 30 million Symbian devices worldwide in Q4 2010 and
8162-437: The highest combined values of banknotes and coins in circulation in the world. The name euro was officially adopted on 16 December 1995 in Madrid . The euro was introduced to world financial markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999, replacing the former European Currency Unit (ECU) at a ratio of 1:1 (US$ 1.1743 at the time). Physical euro coins and banknotes entered into circulation on 1 January 2002, making it
8268-548: The initial designs by Robert Kalina were of specific bridges, including the Rialto and the Pont de Neuilly , and were subsequently rendered more generic; the final designs still bear very close similarities to their specific prototypes; thus they are not truly generic. The monuments looked similar enough to different national monuments to please everyone. The Europa series, or second series, consists of six denominations and no longer includes
8374-405: The internet with Bing and MSN Weather and came pre-installed with Opera Mini . Most S30+ devices did not come with Wi-Fi and were marketed for developing nations, with the Nokia 105 making up the majority of sales. In June 2015, Microsoft further expanded the line of Nokia-branded feature phones with the Nokia 105 aimed specifically at developing nations , and named after an earlier model with
8480-680: The national currencies ceased to be legal tender varied from member state to member state. The earliest date was in Germany, where the mark officially ceased to be legal tender on 31 December 2001, though the exchange period lasted for two months more. Even after the old currencies ceased to be legal tender, they continued to be accepted by national central banks for periods ranging from several years to indefinitely (the latter for Austria, Germany, Ireland, Estonia and Latvia in banknotes and coins, and for Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Slovakia in banknotes only). The earliest coins to become non-convertible were
8586-554: The national currencies had to be carried out using the process of triangulation via the euro. The definitive values of one euro in terms of the exchange rates at which the currency entered the euro are shown in the table. The rates were determined by the Council of the European Union , based on a recommendation from the European Commission based on the market rates on 31 December 1998. They were set so that one European Currency Unit (ECU) would equal one euro. The European Currency Unit
8692-437: The new Nokia Series 30+ powered Nokia 105 and Nokia 105 Dual SIM devices, which would be primarily marketed to business and travelling users, first-time mobile telephone owners, and as "a back up device" for smartphone owners. In Q4 2015, Microsoft managed to sell only 19.4 million feature phones, compared to 30.3 million in the prior year. In June 2015, Microsoft took over naming rights to Nokia Theatre L.A. Live ,
8798-806: The new head of Microsoft Devices, which includes other hardware such as the Surface and Xbox . Elop was joined by Nokia executives Jo Harlow (smart devices), Juha Putkiranta (operations), Timo Toikkanen (feature phones), and Chris Weber (sales and marketing), who gained similar positions at Microsoft. Microsoft Devices retained most of Nokia's groups, including the hardware and studios teams, while software teams were merged with Microsoft's respective teams. The transition worked without much complication, as Elop had previously reorganised Nokia's structure to be similar to Microsoft's. Many former Nokia executives have joined other projects at Microsoft, an example being Pasi Saarikko who became Principal Hardware Engineering Manager at
8904-638: The numeric amount varies from state to state, but for texts in English published by EU institutions, the symbol (or the ISO -standard "EUR") should precede the amount. Following the U.S. financial crisis in 2008, fears of a sovereign debt crisis developed in 2009 among investors concerning some European states, with the situation becoming particularly tense in early 2010 . Greece was most acutely affected, but fellow Eurozone members Cyprus , Ireland , Italy , Portugal , and Spain were also significantly affected. All these countries used EU funds except Italy, which
9010-403: The printers: Capital within the EU may be transferred in any amount from one state to another. All intra-Union transfers in euro are treated as domestic transactions and bear the corresponding domestic transfer costs. This includes all member states of the EU, even those outside the eurozone providing the transactions are carried out in euro. Credit/debit card charging and ATM withdrawals within
9116-502: The public; a design competition will also be held. Since 1 January 2002, the national central banks (NCBs) and the ECB have issued euro banknotes on a joint basis. Eurosystem NCBs are required to accept euro banknotes put into circulation by other Eurosystem members and these banknotes are not repatriated. The ECB issues 8% of the total value of banknotes issued by the Eurosystem. In practice,
9222-676: The rapidly-deflating market share of Windows Phone. In 2015, Microsoft took a US$ 7.8 billion (~$ 9.8 billion in 2023) write-down on the Nokia purchase, and announced layoffs of 7,800 employees, primarily within Microsoft's phone business. In May 2016, Microsoft abandoned its mobile business, selling the Nokia feature phone line and trademark rights to the Finnish startup HMD Global , and announcing that it planned to cut up to 1,350 positions in Finland and focus on offering its productivity services on competing mobile platforms. In 2017, Microsoft executive Joe Belfiore revealed that Microsoft had ceased
9328-455: The result of the fact that the euro area lacks the support of "institutional paraphernalia (and mutual bonds of solidarity) of a state". The crisis continued with S&P downgrading the credit rating of nine euro-area countries, including France, then downgrading the entire European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) fund. A historical parallel – to 1931 when Germany was burdened with debt, unemployment and austerity while France and
9434-484: The same period. Over the nine-quarters prior to the second quarter of 2013, Nokia sustained €4.1 billion worth of operating losses. The company experienced particular problems in both China and the U.S.; in the former, Nokia's handset revenues were the lowest since 2002, while in the U.S., "Nokia continues to show no signs of recovery in the US market. High investments, high expectations, low results." In July 2013, Nokia announced that Lumia sales were 7.4 million for
9540-410: The same target audience, but marketed also towards present smartphone owners, being "perfect for those looking to own their first mobile phone or for those needing a reliable back-up phone for travel and fun." In the third quarter of 2015, the Nokia 222 was released. It featured a larger, 2.4-inch screen. In December 2015, the Nokia 230 was the last Nokia phone from Microsoft. It had an aluminium body,
9646-434: The second quarter of the year – a record high, but Windows Phones in general still lacked momentum and lacked global market share, although scoring progressively better than other competing mobile platforms such as BlackBerry. In June 2013, despite Nokia's falling commitment to the Windows Phone platform, Nokia's share of that market was a dominant 83.3% of all such phones sold; and by October 2013, Nokia's Lumia line held over
9752-464: The successor to the European Currency Unit (ECU). The notes and coins for the old currencies, however, continued to be used as legal tender until new euro notes and coins were introduced on 1 January 2002. The changeover period during which the former currencies' notes and coins were exchanged for those of the euro lasted about two months, until 28 February 2002. The official date on which
9858-412: The transition from Nokia accounts to Microsoft accounts. To compete in developing markets, Microsoft launched various low- and mid-range devices—such as the Lumia 430 Dual SIM , 532 , 435 , 640 , 640 XL , and 540 Dual SIM —to boost Windows Phone sales and increase market share. In Q2 2015, Lumia sold 10.5 million devices, compared to 8.2 million during the same quarter in the prior year. As
9964-433: The €500 with issuance discontinued as of 27 April 2019. However, both the first and the second series of euro banknotes, including the €500, remain legal tender throughout the euro area. In December 2021, the ECB announced its plans to redesign euro banknotes by 2024. A theme advisory group, made up of one member from each euro area country, was selected to submit theme proposals to the ECB. The proposals will be voted on by
10070-515: Was a software platform and user interface (UI) based on Java used for Nokia 's broad range of mid-tier feature phones , as well as on some of the Vertu line of luxury phones. It was one of the world's most widely used mobile phone platforms. On 25 January 2012, Nokia announced that the company had sold over 1.5 billion Series 40 devices. Although S40 has more features than the Series 30 platform, it
10176-473: Was a line of touchscreen smartphones and, previously, tablet computers , introduced in November 2011. All Lumia mobile telephones run on the Windows Phone operating system. The only Lumia tablet Lumia 2520 , running Windows RT , was introduced in November 2013 and has been discontinued. The Lumia is Microsoft's flagship phone portfolio. In October 2014, Microsoft officially announced that it would phase out
10282-560: Was already two years old. While the conversion rates for the initial eleven currencies were determined only hours before the euro was introduced, the conversion rate for the Greek drachma was fixed several months beforehand. The currency was introduced in non-physical form ( traveller's cheques , electronic transfers, banking, etc.) at midnight on 1 January 1999, when the national currencies of participating countries (the eurozone) ceased to exist independently. Their exchange rates were locked at fixed rates against each other. The euro thus became
10388-496: Was an accounting unit used by the EU, based on the currencies of the member states; it was not a currency in its own right. They could not be set earlier, because the ECU depended on the closing exchange rate of the non-euro currencies (principally pound sterling ) that day. The procedure used to fix the conversion rate between the Greek drachma and the euro was different since the euro by then
10494-411: Was announced that, as part of cutbacks, Microsoft would end the Asha, Series 40, and X range entirely, in favor of solely producing and encouraging the use of Windows Phone products. The Asha series consisted of feature phones and low-end smartphones targeted mainly at emerging markets. The series has a mixture of full-touchscreen, "touch and type", QWERTY, and traditional T9 -keypad devices. Originally,
10600-488: Was continuing, despite the finalisation of Nokia's acquisition by Microsoft. In February 2014, in Barcelona, Spain, the Nokia X family was unveiled at Mobile World Congress . These devices, which were aimed towards emerging markets, run a modified version of Android known as Nokia X Software Platform , which was aligned towards Microsoft services and did not use Google Play Store . In a company memo released in July 2014, it
10706-505: Was created by the Austrian designer Robert Kalina . Notes are issued in €500 , €200 , €100 , €50 , €20 , €10 , and €5 . Each banknote has its own colour and is dedicated to an artistic period of European architecture. The front of the note features windows or gateways while the back has bridges, symbolising links between states in the union and with the future. While the designs are supposed to be devoid of any identifiable characteristics,
10812-558: Was made available for their Lumia line of smartphones. Due to the position of Microsoft Lumia devices being first-party hardware by Microsoft, Lumia handsets were the first to receive the Windows Insider preview. In October 2014, Microsoft announced that future Lumia devices would be branded with the "Microsoft" name and logo rather than "Nokia". In November 2014, Microsoft announced its first self branded phone, Microsoft Lumia 535 . In November 2014 The Lumia Beta Apps division launched
10918-636: Was not entirely consistent, as the Nokia Army, launched in 2012, became the Spartan Nation. The support site for legacy phones, accessories, as well as other Nokia-branded devices and services, Nokia Discussions, was renamed the Microsoft Mobile Community. In July 2014, it was reported by evleaks that Microsoft was attempting to license the Nokia name in a co-branding scheme, which would have seen future devices branded as "Nokia by Microsoft". After
11024-420: Was not used for smartphones, where Nokia primarily used Windows Phone and, until 2012, Symbian . However, in 2012 and 2013, several Series 40 phones from the Asha line, such as the 308, 309, and 311, were advertised as " smartphones " although they did not support smartphone features like multitasking or a full-fledged HTML browser. In July 2014, it was announced that Microsoft would discontinue Series 40. It
11130-463: Was replaced by S30+, which was not compatible with J2ME apps. Series 30+ is a software platform and user interface that was used by Microsoft Mobile for its entry-level mobile devices. The first Series 30+ device was the Nokia 130 , which had basic features such as a flashlight, FM radio, USB charging, video playback from microSD cards, and Bluetooth and USB connectivity, but no internet access. The Nokia 215 , released in 2014, allowed users to browse
11236-451: Was reported that a major round of layoffs, totaling over 18,000 across the entire company, would occur at Microsoft over the following year. The majority of these layoffs were related to the integration of Nokia's former staff into Microsoft, in an effort to reduce redundancy. It was also reported that Microsoft had ended future development of Nokia's Asha, Series 40, and X lines, in favor of focusing exclusively on Windows Phone. Shortly after
#714285