Microsoft is rebranding the remaining Nokia retail stores and Care centers worldwide as "Microsoft Authorized Resellers," the company just announced.

Ever since acquiring Nokia's device unit back in April 2014, Microsoft has been gradually rebranding the Nokia name to reflect the change. Nokia Lumia devices became Microsoft Lumia, the Nokia Conversations Blog became Lumia Conversations, and the company is now moving forward with such endeavors.

"Continuing the branding changes announced last fall, Microsoft recently unveiled in Gurgaon, India, the first ever Microsoft Priority Reseller store in the world. In addition, Brazil also rolled out its first Microsoft Authorized Reseller stores and other countries are following suit," Microsoft announced in a new company blog post on Wednesday, May 13.

Nokia retail stores will be called Microsoft Authorized Resellers from now on, and will feature a range of Microsoft products and experiences, such as Lumia, Surface, Xbox, Office 365, and various accessories, in the markets where they are available for purchase. At the same time, "general trade" or "multi-branded stores" will be called Microsoft Mobile Resellers as part of this rebranding.

"The majority of Nokia-branded stores and Care centers around the world will soon reflect the company's brand promise and feature new branded signage to fresh visual merchandising displays and fixtures. These stores will be part of the Microsoft ecosystem and provide an aesthetic that aligns with our core brand values and encourages engagement and interaction with our products. In addition to India and Brazil, other countries include France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam," the company further detailed.

Through this rebranding transition, Microsoft aims to boost its retail footprint and relevance as a hardware manufacturer.

"Lumia users will see superb tighter integration and things working in a seamless way. These stores will showcase the great experiences we have between hardware, software and services," further touted Chris Weber, corporate vice president for mobile device sales at Microsoft. "Buyers will see the experience of Skype and multiple hardware across the Windows ecosystem whether it is on phones, PC, tablets or Xbox bringing the whole experience to life and offering them a compelling value proposition."

The retail store rebranding will allow Microsoft to have a stronger presence in western markets, as well as many emerging markets where the Nokia name still echoes. Microsoft has already been pushing for a bigger market share in such countries with the launch of budget-friendly Lumia smartphones, such as the cheap Lumia 430. Many of these countries have not really seen Microsoft as a consumer hardware manufacturer so far, but the company hopes to change this soon by rebranding stores.