Opera Mobile Store will replace Nokia Store as the default app store for Nokia feature phones, Symbian and Nokia X smartphones, following an agreement between Opera Software and Microsoft.
Owners of Nokia feature phones and Symbian and Nokia X phones will be redirected to the Opera Mobile Store before the Nokia Store closes by mid-2015. The process of migrating consumers from the old Nokia Store to Opera is expected to be complete within the first half of 2015, at which point the Nokia Store will be closed down.
“When the current users of the Nokia Store are migrated to Opera Mobile Store, they will continue to get fresh, interesting apps for their Nokia phones. The Opera Mobile Store becomes an even more significant player in the app store market, and Nokia mobile phone users get a first-class app store for years to come.”
said Lars Boilesen, CEO of Opera Software in a company statement.
Nokia Symbian, Asha, and Nokia X device owners will get to use the web-based Opera mobile store to browse, discover, and download apps. Opera added that consumers should not delete a previously purchased app once the transition takes place, or they will need to buy it again. In August Opera partnered with Microsoft to makes its browser default on all low end phones. It also announced that it has 100 million users on Android.