Microsoft buys up Nokia Mobile on the cheap

[harrybarracuda]

Nokia Sells Handset Business To Microsoft At A Shockingly Low Price
TECH | 9/02/2013 @ 11:40

It cannot be said that Nokia NOK -2.5%‘s decision to sell its handset unit to Microsoft MSFT -0.45% is a surprise. But what definitely are surprises are the timing and the price. Nokia’s glory days of 110 B euro market cap are long gone – yet it’s a visceral shock to see the Devices and Services unit sold under 5.5 B euros. It’s a particularly stunning turn as it seemed that Nokia had finally turned the corner with its Lumia smartphone business literally just months ago. The model that at last helped Nokia to find some volume traction was the Lumia 520, which debuted last spring. Boosted by its sub-$150 price, the Lumia 520 and its sibling models have recently enjoyed substantial momentum in South-East Asia and even at T-Mobile and AT&T T +0.53% in North America. What has given the budget Lumia series a considerable boost this past summer has been the apparent hesitation of key rivals like HTC , BlackBerry and Sony in pursuing the sub-$200 smartphone category.

Why would Nokia opt to sell the handset operations just as the success of the low-end models is returning the smartphone unit to growth track? It is possible that the feature phone sales collapse has turned into such a red rout that Nokia felt it had to push the panic button right now. The Asha range of premium feature phone models had a surprisingly perky year in 2012, but suffered grievously from low-end Android vendor aggression in Africa, Latin America and Asia in the first half of 2013. It could be that the latest wave of $100-130 smartphones from Google’s Asian allies has pushed Nokia’s feature phone business into such a tail spin that immediate measures were necessary. Apple’s new value iPhone may be about to put pressure on Nokia’s high-end Lumia sales.

Nevertheless, the motivation of Stephen Elop will now come under intense scrutiny. Elop came from Microsoft and decided very quickly that Windows was the only hope for Nokia’s smartphone unit, which was still selling more than 24 M units per quarter in early 2011. After he eliminated all alternative operating system options, he has now decided to sell Nokia’s smartphone unit at a notably low price… to Microsoft, the company he will now rejoin.

You don’t need to be a Finn to take a moment to wonder whether Elop’s loyalties have been entirely undivided over the past few years.

[Butterfly]

predictable,

[harrybarracuda]

Given who the boss was, it's a no brainer even for you, Buttplug.

[david44]

DEBIan does Dollars

[Marmite the Dog]

That's disgraceful. Aren't there laws against stuff like that?

[Albert Shagnastier]

Google and Motorola
VS
Microsoft and Nokia

Slight chance of an interesting bout.

[harrybarracuda]

Microsoft make more out of Android than they do out of Windows Phone.

So I expect this purchase was all about the patents. Still got it damn cheap though!

[harrybarracuda]

Nokia only have a 3.1% market share. But Microsoft get to use the Asha, Lumia and Nokia names for 10 years as part of the deal.

Windows 9 is due out soon.....

[hazz]

so nokia brings in managment consultants implmented the best management theories they could find, divided the company into dysfunctional silos bring the company to its knees. then they bring in a Microsoft chap who, shafts any remaining competitiveness from the company delivering the shot into the back of the head.

I think nokia in the 2000's is going to become a textbook example of how to drive a company in to destruction.

[harrybarracuda]

so nokia brings in managment consultants implmented the best management theories they could find, divided the company into dysfunctional silos bring the company to its knees. then they bring in a Microsoft chap who, shafts any remaining competitiveness from the company delivering the shot into the back of the head.

I think nokia in the 2000's is going to become a textbook example of how to drive a company in to destruction.

Its old management were the ones that sealed its fate by refusing to build a decent Android smartphone. Android and iPhone killed their premium market and the Chinese have screwed their feature phone business. There's not much left.

Microsoft will make money out of the patents even if their handsets don't sell that well.

[VocalNeal]

That's disgraceful. Aren't there laws against stuff like that?

..and you thought Thai are devious?

[bsnub]

That's disgraceful. Aren't there laws against stuff like that?

..and you thought Thai are devious?

Just what is devious about it?