The word on the street is that Microsoft is planning to buy Nokia’s smartphone division for the hefty sum of…wait for it…$19-billion. The rumor was tweeted by Mobile-Review’s Eldar Murtazin, who has a history of getting inside information and early products from Nokia. Here’s more on the matter from VentureBeat:
If the rumor does end up being true, Microsoft would be looking to acquire Nokia’s “Smart Devices” division, which houses all of the company’s smartphone operations. Nokia also has a “Mobile Phones” division, but that’s entirely focused on lower-end dumb phones.
Nokia communications director Mark Squires responded to Murtazin’s earlier report in a surprisingly direct way on Twitter: “We typically don’t comment on rumors. But we have to say that Eldar’s rumors are getting obviously less accurate with every passing moment,” he wrote.
Nokia’s vehement denial is unusual for a company that typically plays it cool. That combined with Microsoft’s talent for throwing large amounts of money at consumers products (Xbox, Zune) makes the rumor particularly interesting. While Microsoft had success licensing Windows Mobile, the market has changed drastically. Perhaps the company believes that tightly controlling the hardware, the operating system, and the software ecosystem is the way to go with its relatively new Windows Phone OS. (Microsoft copying the Apple model?!? No way!)
What do you guys and dolls think of this rumor? Is it all hot air from Murtazin? Or does Microsoft buying Nokia’s smartphone division make complete sense?
Source via VentureBeat
-"Perhaps the company believes that tightly controlling the hardware, the operating system, and the software ecosystem is the way to go with its relatively new Windows Phone OS."-
There's another company that does that with their smartphones and tablets… who is it again?
They also do the same thing to a degree with computers… I just can't think of the name… but, I suddenly have a craving to eat some pomaceous fruit that grows from the Malus domestica while I listen to Beatles albums (but only the ones released after 1968 for some reason).
DAMN THIS BRAIN OF MINE!!!!!
You're thinking of HP. That's what the company is doing with WebOS.
:P
Dude… I kid you not, that was the next joke I was gonna make if someone opened me up for it. I'm not kidding.
We totally connected the same comedic dots… and that is awesome.
It's Dell?
Maybe it's Samsung… but I can't remember.
Anyway… the point is that MS (if this is true) is obviously trying to follow the model that's been in place and proven successful. There has to be a profit margin reason for this.
That said, Google will have to follow suit eventually in order to earn the profits it will need to compete, or fall under the wait of the competition.
*weight*
I can't believe I just did that.
MS has a proven model as well. SoC requires tight controls compared to x86. I see logic here, but will wait for a confirmation from them.
I agree that there's no sense in throwing out flamebait with no confirmation.
However, if so, then there's apparently something MS likes about the other model. The only thing that could be is for monetary reasons. The more money they have, the more money they have to spend on R&D. The better the R&D, the better the products.
So… if this model is the one that sticks, then it's either the future or waiting to get blown out of the water by something nobody is thinking of.
It would be them adapt to the ARM (SoC) segment. Apple adopted Intel in order to push forward.
This is odd though. In some ways I think RIM would be the better choice for takeover considering the enterprise angle but RIM isn't cheap enough yet.
If this is true, there may be some other reason why MS is distancing itself from RIM or even vice versa.
Yeah, there's fishiness for sure. It's either bullshit or complex.
Microsoft wants to get stronger in the consumer market, not the enterprise market. It can already manipulate the business field through Exchange and Office, making things harder for its competitors. It sucks in the consumer smartphone space, where Android and iOS are dominating.
Plus, Finnish (Nokia) people are funnier than Canadians (RIM).
I understand that, and I really hope Nokia puts out something nice. I played around with WP7 again recently and do not mind it. With some awesome hardware and Mango it will be a legitimate option.