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Microsoft released its new Lumia smartphone, the first non-Nokia Lumia model, at stores in mainland China on Wednesday.
The tech giant's newest phone called the Microsoft Lumia 535 features dual SIM capacity and is installed with Microsoft's latest operating system, the Windows Phone 8.1.
The Lumia also sports a 5-inch display screen and includes a 5-megapixel wide-angle front camera, and has a price tag of 799 yuan ($130), according to a statement from the Redmond-based company itself.
The new Lumia's shipment date followed Microsoft's announcement earlier this month regarding the dropping of the Nokia brand name in newer Lumia models, which came six months after Microsoft acquired the Finnish mobile brand for more than $7 billion. However, the Nokia brand will still be used for non-smartphone handsets.
The new Lumia phone's name would have been "Microsoft Nokia Lumia 535 Windows Phone," if Microsoft did not decide to abandon the Finnish brand's name.
Avid fans of Nokia expressed their dismay about the removal of the brand in the smartphone market.
"So, so sad to hear this news, an almost unimaginable fate for Nokia phones," said Beijing resident Song Yiyi.
Song was a loyal fan of Nokia line of phones for nearly 10 years until she switched to another handset from Huawei Technologies Co., one of China's leading smartphone manufacturers.
Song added that she is not interested in the new Lumia devices because it lacked the brand name and logo of Nokia, which was the early leader in the mobile phone industry.
