Microsoft shifting select Nokia X product designs to Windows Phone

And what "design" is he talking about when he says "shift select Nokia X product designs to become Lumia products"? Nokia X was practically a low-end Lumia running Android. The design was "shifted" from Lumia to X in the first place.

Meaning
Nokia X=Lumia in future
That's what I think

Elop was promoting the idea, I guess he lost. MS has great confidence in WP if they're making this move.

Could it be that the Nokia X series will be replaced by a Lumia X series, which will be: 1. WP devices instead of Android devices
2. sold in the same regions where Nokia X devices are sold today (neither in the U.S. nor western Europe)
3. the only Lumia devices that support Android apps? Killing the Nokia X series would be a very strong statement about MS' commitment to WP, yet those devices would still give people in those regions the ability to use their regional Android apps. Somehow that would all fit together nicely.

Would be?????? They have been making strong statements all along about their commitment to Windows Phone, but people get caught up in their favorite shitty blog, pieced together by their favorite shitty writer and choose to believe that guy and his FUD over what anybody at Microsoft says.

It could be the case. But they'd have to allow Android apps country by country. Because It would be confusing if only some Windows Phones can run Android apps. But even if they do it at the country level, It'd be confusing. In this connected world news sites are global. A consumer reads a review, buys a Lumia and discover that in her country Android apps aren't supported.

Yep, I thought about that too. I don't like that idea either, but just stated what the article made me think of. Still, contrasted to many of the other ideas I've heard so far, I'd probably put that on my "least worst of" list. ;-)

Maybe he meant hold down the shift key and left click on the Nokia X

Lol.

I am so glad this crap is likely to be killed off. Worst idea since the Kin by Microsoft.

It was Nokia's idea. And I think they sold quite a few of them.

Till this day, I admit that I do not get the logic behind the forked Android idea for the X series. Nokia could have just pushed the WP8 Lumia generation to much lower price points instead. I'd wager that is what Nokia/Microsoft Mobile is doing with the current Lumia generation (L530, L630 and L635).   I agree that it should be discontinued, even though it will rile up the tech blogs, particularly the Android leaning ones, but to be honest, it should have stayed in the labs instead of going into production. Just my two cents on this.

Well if they had worked on kin a little more it might have made a decent feature phone platform

Yes, God exists! Kill the X line now!

That's the way I read it. Funny, though... Last week Rich Dunbar announced on the STL Tech Talk podcast that he was looking to hire two Nokia X evangelists for DVLUP.

All in DVLUP is simply ridiculous
..Another thing to reorg completely, Rich will probably be in that 18.000

+1520

KILL IT....KILL THE DAMN ABOMINATION with fire, acid, water, stone, or pretty much anything & everything you can kill it with.

Nokia X = Lumia X now :) Nokia X it was stupid at the first place so ... good :D

No. Nokia X is dead, as a brand and as an OS platform. Hardware that's yet to come to market will come to market as Lumia, running WP. There'll be no Lumia X (jeez, what is it with people wanting these horrid brand dilutions!)

Seems crazy to kill it to me. I thought the sold good. Now if they aren't selling them yeah kill it. Wait them that would mean kill WP too.

However WP's are still being sold. You're argument is invalid.

YOUR*
 

+1020

+1520

MS should shift X2 specs to a new L640 model with 1GB and front camera.  It should be priced the same as X2.  Nokia X phones have been impacting the sales of low end lumia and Asha phones.  It is like an internal war.

+920

'just' buy it
lol

Poor Nokia X user

+XL

Yay! Windows Phone won.

Wow what a waste of time... I'm sure google is laughing

Yeah, at Nokia's decision to launch the X-line, not microsoft. MS is simply cleaning up Nokia's mess.   Coming from a Nokia Icon user.

MS had to release those devices they were already on the production line and I am pretty sure that was part of the deal with NOKIA.  Of course it didn't make sense from the begining but there are many things in those kind of deal tha us the public doesn't know.

Just like when google bought moto I believe its was more or less govmnt oversight that required them to finish the roadmap that was planned by nokia

Nokia X was stupid to begin with
The only reason they'd put android on phones is for apps, which Nokia decided to out their own NEW appstore and not even get the only thing acceptable in Android

That is because it was running aosp android and not gms android... The latter will get you the google play store but if you bundled googles services.

Once you release an AOSP device, you can't ever release a Google Play-certified device. That means both Nokia (if they ever start releasing handsets again) and Microsoft are out of that club, which is fine by me.

It is 'details' like this that people need to refer to when they profess how wonderful Android is for being 'open'.   Technnically it is 'open', but in reality it is more tightly controlled by Google than any closed source product.  Google tells the OEMs to jump and how high, and they leverage this pressure as HTC and other OEMs ahve expressed outrage.   Even with WP being a closed OS, the OEM requirements by Microsoft are far less restrictive.   The universal term 'open' is used too much and is conflated with 'freedom' when a leveraged standard can have full dictatorship.  

Yes turn into Lumia x lol windows

Wow, so many news, so little time to comprehend.

Xelllent...

HAHA!

Anyway Nokia X isn't any crowd turner.... Microsoft should focus on phones like Lumia 520 rather than X

It never made sense to me why they were pursuing the low end of the market with Android. Windows Phone is more than capable of running on those devices. Good to see them simplify their product line up.

This. 520 is cheap best seller. Must purely have been Nokia trying to have bargaining leverage with Microsoft

Guess the 520 series will replace the x series because the 630 already seems like lowest of low budget phones without flash and ffc

It worked as Nokia force Microsoft's hand to purchase them. It's just stupid how some Finn's refuse to believe that their board in conjuction with Elop worked together to sell.

Actually, I don't think the chipset used in those devices is supported by Windows Phone. Obviously it isn't capable.

'Currently'   Part of the 8.1 changes include a new set of ARM drivers and NT HALs for non-standard processors.  We haven't seen much about this mentioned since the 8.1 reveal, and don't know what range of processors are now supported.    

Proof that any Android on Windows rumors are just not going to happen.

Pretty much, all those talking heads who said that Android was in Microsoft's future will have to eat some crow.

Exactly. Tom warren and all those who believed it, should shut up now.

Tell that to the so called Guru Tom Warren

Tom is a Reporter, I hate all of them.

But I think it is exactly the opposite. This decision can be because of their decision to support a VM in Windows phone itself to support Android apps. Then they may not need Android as an OS anymore.

In addition, we plan to shift select Nokia X product designs to become Lumia products running Windows. This builds on our success in the affordable smartphone space and aligns with our focus on Windows Universal Apps. After saying that, I doubt it :)

But we can't rule those possibilities out yet...... At least for the time being.....:)

Maybe...    But rememver that Tom W. also stated that the Nokia X Android devices would make more sense in Micorsoft's long term 'services' stategy.   So even if the VM is coming, he was wrong about the Nokia X/Android being a part of the future of Microsoft services.   The bottom line is that he is a hack from the Verge and they both hate Microsoft with 1000 hot pokers. The Verge love Apple and Google, and loves to write about all their good deeds.  They also hate Microsoft and love to write about how evil and bad all Microsoft products are. As they have moved to be the anti-Microsoft site I have stopped reading or referencing them; I just don't have time to weed through their BS.

I dont think it will be that simple I think if it is emulated it will be like what gog does for dos games by packaging it in its own sandbox thats specifically configured for that apps special requirements

May be Nokia x= Lumia x=WP with Android apps on VM.

This ^^^

I walked would like to buy one... Not coz the Droid... I want to check all the moves by Nokia...

That was shortlived. Imo a good decision. I'm not very deep technically into Android but from what I experienced is that Windows Phone is a much better performing OS on low-spec devices. And Nokia X just was weird.

Glad common sense prevailed in the end, this should put an end to all the android Lumia rumours...

It made no sense why Microsoft should create an Android phone; licensing a Google device with Nokia on it will ultimately confuse the average customer, so good move there. As for layoffs, I think Nokia's acquisition was a Steve Ballmer move, not a Nadella move. Layoffs are never fun, but at this point, it's the right thing to do.

It was not a google device because android is free.. just the functionality you know of android is not there since they are all linked into the google services. that means if you want to use android with for example google now - you need to pay licences to google for their play store

Its hardly surprising that people cant tell the difference between aosp and gms. To them all androids, aosp or not run google's android. Once people latch onto one brand identity, they cant tell the difference between variations.

It runs android apps. Its not open source stupid google system. Its X-os running android apps. Like blackberry is running android apps on their operating system.

Its not x-os, its running off forked android with a custom skin. Hence why it had a separate store..
There are two kinds of android apps, those who are eligible for the google play store and those which are not. Which is why you don't see apps like instagram or whatsapp in the amazon store. (Which are in the google play store).
Edit: Furthermore blackberry is running the java based android apps under emulation and the native apps have to be ported.

And yet you all set to prove my point: it's confusing to the average consumer why this phone is a nightmare and should be abolished. It is so far off-base of anything Android OR Windows Phone related that it just won't sell or go anywhere. So thank you :)

I remember reading an article basically saying that as they further go down the path their going with android their will be no updated support for essential api's virtually making android in essence closed source like Symbian was

Wait, so does this mean that you'll have the same hardware being sold by the same company, bit with two OS's?

That i was wondering too.

Just wonder that device can run windows

Lumia X phones with Windows for under a 100$.... It's a winner....

This is sad for people who are loyal to Nokia but prefers android . Nokia Philippines is very hardworking in pushing nokia x here, many ads that none of the wp 8 lumias ever experienced. Now that nokia device and services is part of microsoft, serious advertising should be done to this OS unfamiliar to most users.

Well Nokia is still dabbling in android, just look up Nokia Z- Launcher.

And the recent HERE APIs released for Android developers...

Isn't this what we said these clowns should have done in the first place? Now they're going to abandon yet another set of users they lured with honey and gravy. And this is the same guy who introduced these Nokia x devices as such great value. What a bunch of morons.

Nokia's flirtation with Android is alive and well. Perhaps you mean Microsoft's flirtation with Android...

Sorry,but the X line was created under Nokia direction, not Microsoft. You're one of those people who refuse to accept the fact that Nokia's board conspire with Elop to force Microsoft to purchase them. After all the thing the pushed microsoft to purchase the D/S division was the rumors of a Lumia running Android and the  production of it. Keep living in your fantasy world pretending that the board and other management at Nokia didn't know about this all along.

You are the one talking "conspiracy". At any rate, your comment is absolutely useless. I said Nokia - the REAL Nokia - is still flirting with Android. And they are. In less than two months they've released the Z Launcher and HERE APIs for Android developers.
Eflop was working for Microsoft while he was at Nokia. That's plain and simple. If you want to live in the fantasy that he wasn't, by all means...

Yeah and MS releases office for iPad too which is a service like Nokia drive and here maps

I don’t know about the conspiracy and I’m sure it’s mostly speculation as no one in the general public really knows, but this thing that some have about Real Nokia meaning there’s a fake Nokia is nonsense to me. True, I’m no expert, but as a customer in my point of view Nokia was mostly known for building mobile phones. The maps, the network well not as much. For ME the Real Nokia is the D/S Division the rest was a sideline (sure looking at HERE which is pretty big now it doesn’t look like that), but I think we should simply call the rest “REST [of] Nokia” the part that was not worth buying for the price. If all that was left was a division, making rubber or electrical cables, would it still be the Real Nokia to you? No, IMHO MS bought Nokia (not talking about legal stuff here, just referring to what I consider to be the heart and soul of the company from a consumer point of view). Really what is left is only a shadow of what was once, one of the greatest mobile company ever.  RIP Real Nokia T_T

Re use the X shell with Lumia branding, WP OS etc... Save $ in producing new moulds, design etc... Sounds good for the low end models! Haha, sounds like what Apple does with the iPhone lol :D

Good move if managed well, I would consider milking the Android market a little while longer in certain countries where WP has made little to no progress.

The X-Line isn't selling as well as the so called pre-orders suggested. It was reported the many didn't even pick them up or returned the due to poor performance issues, so why would you continue trying to beat a dead horse?

I believe there were some reports and statements from Nokia that the X line e.g. was the 3rd most sold smartphone in India at some point. IIRC some reports do suggest X phones have sold a couple million units at least. Anyway, Elop has confirmed exactly what I suggested "In addition to the portfolio already planned, we plan to deliver additional lower-cost Lumia devices by shifting select future Nokia X designs and products to Windows Phone devices. We expect to make this shift immediately while continuing to sell and support existing Nokia X products."

Provide the sales reports in which you base that statement about the X sales, please.

Do you provide proof for any of the stuff you put out?

Nailed it.

Fast lane to windows phone!!!!!

+1

I dnt think they should move .....the sholuld rather mix it up

So that means windows phone will have fastlane????

Err. No.

Instead! Why shouldn't Nokia provide their Android fill store to Windows phone users as an option to Windows store and yeah fastlane too

No word on Asha, though?

Well, they are phasing/closing down the Asha development unit in Oulu so I would guess that the current line up phones is the last one, unless there are some ready in the pipeline (as there probably should be) and those are not transitioned to WP. Or unless they continue using the Asha name in non-TS lowest end phones (but I gather you were not referring to those).

I just got my answer over on The Verge... Asha, Series 40 AND MixRadio is dead

we'll have Lumia X soon :D

Nadella is cleaning up the house. Nokia X was a legacy Nokia product that now got the axe. Fingers crossed Asha / S40 will be next. The focus needs to be on Windowsphone

So you're saying that despite licensing the Nokia name for Asha phones for 10 years, they should just scrap it? I'd like to see YOU open your wallet, take out a wad of cash and chuck it in the bin.

It may be next, but at least for now Elop clearly explains that lowest end ("first phones") business will continue.

if they could make a windows phone that actually works and with a price tag of 60 euros , then they can kill ashas

Whahah Nokia x is like a bachelors' party! xD but Microsoft took it down real quick and kicks out the android guys xD

I just hope that Nadella will make the windows phone rise against it competitors

Hallelujah! Satya is on the roll - market should respond nicely to all these developments today. Let's get Asha dead too and bring all those hardwares under WP8.1 - let's eat the low end market while churning out beauties like Lumia 1520, 930 etc.

While its of course not definitive,  Elop at least reaffirmed the universal apps strategy as the way to enrich the app ecosystem.

Seems like they are killing it - with fire! I'm not sure if it impacts the android apps running on windows phone rumors. I have mixed feelings about android on WP, but I think in the end it's best not to have such an implementation as it would kill off (or at the very least strongly curtail) any developer interest in native apps

someone downloaded bbm ....that person gave it a 3star rating...still waiting here for an email...still cant download...had applied in 1hr ftr it came on wp so not on the wishlist
...

This is the only reason Nokia was allowed to intro these handsets. They were designed to bring users to the Microsoft services and intro cheaper hands to emerging markets. Likely they now want to consolidate the branding and it is obvious Lumia will be the top banner,

I have this deep feeling that they are trying to push their customers off... It seems they want to focus on software more so and leave hardware alone. Seems like the future upon us will be everyone walking around with an Android or iPhone while having Microsoft Office on it. It maybe off the subject but I fear our high-end days are numbered. Just a random thought...

Its plausible. But also unlikely especially with a move like this. Time will tell.

Finally sense, prevails.

Death to the unnatural abomination!

Linux Nokia with good hardware :)

That would be Nokia N9.

If you wanna know what the real design is for windows phone look at the HTC 8x and 8s.

Nah I look at Lumia. But thanks.

Nokia x design is realy the best in low end phone

HTC 8s is actually the best ever

That's not what I think. I like Nokia designs, HTC is not bad.

8s is the best looking WP device and also the lightest one.

Honestly, this should confirm that like someone here said before, the will only be two lines of windows phone offered by Microsoft direct: Lumia and Surface which Lumia will be low to mid-range, surface will be high-end. I'm not going to assume all of the jobs cut will be Nokia employees only as I believe the in Satya's quest for innovation, he will be keeping the many of the Nokia's Software and Design team personnel and cutting many of the existing Microsoft Software Engineers. These Nokia employees will be merged in with the Surface team. Now there be a clear message, "Lumias are low to mid-range, Surface devices are high-end". Note to Self, this is exactly what Ballmer had planned, so while many people are giving credit to Satya, he is still simply carrying out plans set forth by Ballmer.....So honestly, the old guy isn't done yet even in retirement.

Why do you think there will be a Surface line of phones? Nothing was said by Elop or Nadella on that - or did I miss some wording that would clearly imply that?

There will likely be a Surface phone. Remember the planned life-cycle end of the L1020 announced by MSFT? Don't you wonder in annoyance why a premium device under two years suddenly gets the boot while the L920 of 2+ years was not chosen as the sacrifice? Yeah, L1020 WP9 Surface phone is gonna be the first to roll out. Sporting the famous Nokia 40mp sensor and other Nokia hardware but this time with a 2gig RAM, 3D touch and marketed as Surface phone. MSFT is such an a#s for sacrificing the L1020 for selfish Surface phone dream instead of developing theirs from the scratch.

Well, MS has not announced anything about the 1020. Second, it being (possibly) EOLed may imply meany things - it did not sell well (likely to some extent) and/or there is a follow up model coming soon addressing some of the 1020's shortcomings (hopefully and quite likely). They would not (if they actually will) EOL 1020 if there is no immediate follow up to it (unless its sales have been horrible and they don't want to keep taking a loss on it) - they won't wait till WP9. There is nothing concrete to suggest there will be any Surface phones - sure, there may be. But until there is some actual evidence of that, I would refrain from "MSFT is such an a#s for sacrificing the L1020 for selfish Surface phone dream instead of developing theirs from the scratch" type of statements. Not to mention Nokia IS theirs. :)

I fear to trust MS, because they suddenly stop everything, wp7 doesn't support wp8, now Nokia x. And next wp8.1 ll not support wp9..

I am hoping we get fast lane...

You won't. They are replacing the X OS with WP on those devices, not merging them. :)

At last a sensible move from Microsoft

well I bought Nokia x then I sold it out...it's a bit bulky in the hand...the interface surely not as nice as windows...but it can lure new customers back to Nokia as it runs android system....well not sure if it is a right move ....ha.

And Nokia x looks and feels extremely cheap...can't compare to lumia handsets...

RIP Nokia X, The worst and more stupid smartphone concept ever.

The whole thing was a smokescreen for the Elop conspiracy theory.
Glad to see it die now.
Maybe it also helped prove Windows and Android can run on the same hardware.
We'll probably find out one day when I'm old and grey.

Whoever came up with the X line of phones should be the first to be fired.... Worst idea EVER! "Hey guys, lets make an OS look like one that already exists... to tempt people to buy the one that already exists, but... they're actually not buying it because they're buying this instead?"

So i guess say hellow to Lumia 430 and maybe 330? sounds good to me!

Yes

 If Nokia X (Android Phone) can migrate to Windows Phone... Can Windows Phones migrate to Android?

Great news!

It seems Tom Warren and Evleaks got their wires crossed. What they we told was "Nokia X is becoming Lumia" and assumed that meant Lumia devices running Android (or at least Android apps).  When the reality is, Nokia X is the complete dead end that it looked like on the day it was announced. Especially when Joe Belfiore said “They’ll do some things we’re excited about, and some things we’re less excited about”, it was obvious that MS were going to kill it off at the first opportunity. It just amazes me that the X2 went out the door - the Devices and Services unit has clearly still been running as though nothing has happened. They still haven't "gone native" and really become part of MS. This action from Nadella seems to mainly be a cull of all the teams in Devices and Services that were never going to go native. The Asha team is going too, since they've announced they will "ramp down engineering work in Oulu", which is where the Asha engineering team is. I'm sure there are plenty of hardware designs in the pipeline for Lumia and X, well as of today, some of the work in the X pipeline is getting moved to the Lumia pipeline and modified as needed to run Windows Phone. As Eflop said, "We expect to make this shift immediately while continuing to sell and support existing Nokia X products". Meaning, there will never be another phone released branded Nokia X and running AOSP.  As of today, it's dead. Good job too, it was a mongrel.

Agree, except that since the X2 must have been in the pipeline and ready to go, not that surprising it was let out. Especially since the X did sell reasonably well e.g. in India, Russia and some other places.

This is insane. Then why do they have to release X2?!! Why so much drama

Because it was ready to go, and ready to generate at least some revenue for a unit that is bleeding bad.

The only drama that exists comes from you (or people in general) buying into the silly BS that's always put out about Microsoft.
 

News like this makes me ashamed of Microsoft/Nokia and that I am using their product.

And why exactly?

Come on. No need to be ashamed. In fact, all WP users should be happy that there will be only one line that Microsoft need to take care of. Lumia.
Finger crossed the service will be much better after these changes..

Modaro nokia x....anjrit

Ugliest design ever!

Stop much for the Lumia Android rumors.

Well I can say that windows phone is still dominent against X series.
And I think,the move is right and merge the business to work better and sustain the OS to sore in the sky.

Feeling sad for nokia x fans

Shifting Nokia X design to Windows Phone?? Bringing Fastlane to Windows Phone..??

NokiaX to come end. No more Trojan Phone.

guys, I bought Nokia XL last week for my brother and now I read an article that Microsoft want to focus with Lumia, so is that meant Nokia XL would be fail product or Microsoft want to stop support Nokia XL software upgrades in the future? anyone please explain this to me, my brother will be very upset if he know that the future of Nokia X will become a fail product of Microsoft. :'(

It wasn't a failed product of MSFT so much as it was leftover from Nokia prior to acquisition. I am sure they will give those devices as well as X2 devices a lifeline for a little while. I think, if anything, the X2 would have been a better choice considering you can (from rumors) install another appstore (like amazon's) to get expanded selection of apps. I would think Gen1 Nokia X phones will get updates but far and few between. There are methods to hack Android w/ Google Play on them. Also, you can install a Windows Phone Launcher UI skin, and install MSFT services if you choose to put Android w/ Google on it. At least then you can have access to the Play Store and value gets better. Last resort could be to return that phone and get a Lumia.

They will be no future X phones, however the current ones will continue to be supported.

So glad Nokia X will be gone.

I hope there are windowsphone that could run android app....

It's now the Nokia Xune

Die!

Kill it! Kill it with fire!

I was hoping that Nokia X was part of microsofts open source initiative offering an fully open AOSP o.s. alternative to googles android o.s.

Happy Day Mode is : ON :)  XDIE  

I hope this means Windows Phone will be getting that fast lane feature!

or maybe fast lane and android apps are going to windows phone ?

IMHO this is gonna hurt Microsoft in the near term. All the folks that have purchased the X phones are gonna feel as if Microsoft is abandoning them. They just purchased these shiny new Nokia phones and Microsoft is killing the line. Not a good way to garner customer confidence.

I said pretty much exactly this on the day they were announced... The Nokia brand was very popular in the countries where the Nokia X has been a big success, mainly because they have Nokia on the casing. Now they've gone and poisoned that well too. Nice work guys, if I could see this coming why couldn't you?

All the NX managed to do was to give the already hateful bloggers something to scream, "This is it... Microsoft is going under now".
Now that you read that it will likely be going away, will you go back and re-read some of the "Nokia X is here to stay" posts and see how ridiculous they really sound?

Maybe this is what those rumors about integrating Android applications on Windows phone were about. Nokia X phones that will be branded as Lumia but running Android apps..

A totally waste of time by microsoft and nokia. Should have utilized this time in giving windows phone 8.1.

Was insane when they announced it. Completely went against what they were trying to achieve for starters.

Alongside the feature phone cuts, Microsoft is also planning to offer Nokia MixRadio as a third-party service. The software maker is considering options to spinoff the service, and has initiated discussions with "strong interest" from third parties. Until MixRadio is sold, it has also been moved into maintenance mode.

IF THEY KILL MIX RADIO FOR THE XBOX BS....I'M MOVING BACK TO ANDROID. PERIOD. 

...and nobody will care.

Well I just hope that some of the "product designs" they consider do not include that butt ugly UI.  The UI they've got on the Nokia X has got to be one of the ugliest I've ever seen on a smart phone; even a lot of Windows Mobile phones looked better.  It looks like they took Windows Phone 7 and let a kintergartender remix it with Android 2.3.  Thank goodness this thing is being discontinued.

It would be really cool, that all Nokia X and X2 users would recieve a free WP8.1 update in their phones! I believe it can be done technicaly.

I'm a Lumia 928 user and was confused by this move... Making a forked Android phone? This sounds like Kin all over again..a 2 month market, then removed. From a business point of view, I never understood why you would offer a forked version of Android when people could just buy regular Android from anyone else. I say support Windows phone whole heartedly or don't. It's confusing to the loyal customers like myself who are getting tired of the B.S.

+925

It's windows phone era

Should have been in the beginning!

Why couldn't Microsoft update the phones to windows phone 8 or 8.1 with a software update or something

Who didn't see Microsoft killing Nokia X? I did a mile away.

X line would serve well instead of the Lumia 5 and 6 series. They have front facing cameras, 1gram , flash etc that are essential for all low end phones.

I'm wondering if they could deliver an OTA that installs windows phone instead of Android haha

Where would they put these devices in the Lumia line? Just kill it with fire and be done with it...

Excellent! I've always thought it was strange Microsoft making Android devices! 

May be, they are going to push an OS update to the Nokia X devices and turn them into windows phone 8.1 OS devices !

Although I am happy that MS is getting rid of android, I hope this doesn't mean that android emulation is coming to WP (as per recent rumours)

Design could mean "hardware design". So you could make a single phone handset that runs either Android or Windows software when it's shipped. This fits in with downsizing the hardware division to streamline their budget phones. I also have a feeling that Microsoft is planning to make a major announcement about supporting Android apps on Windows Phone or vice-versa that would make this merger even more sensible.

I may be reading this entirely wrong, not really following this. What will this bring to Windows Phone? Are they binning off the Android experiment?

Yea they are! Terminating the X line and loading Windows Phone OS on these devices, So what we gain are more quality low end Lumias :)

I don't pay massive attention to the lower end, but do we really need more? Is the bottom end not served by the 5 & 6 series phones? Not knocking the design of the X series, but what do they add?

Makes perfect sense! Microsoft should focus solely on Windows and Windows Phone software platforms. Android has no place under Microsoft.

Great news for WP fans like us. This means that, at least for the time being, they’ve decided to keep rolling with the WP8 OS and hopefully, this will kill any talk of Android being released on Lumias. The Nokia X/Asha line will more than likely become the new 540.