Microsoft to buy Nokia's Devices and Services in $7.2B deal

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

LOL, oh come on. I have had a few Windows Mobile devices. I had a Pocket PC, which is kinda like today's iPod Touch, except it had very little space. They were doing pretty good in the smartphone space when there WASN'T a smartphone space too (my dad had a HTC made one). 38.8% before the iPhone showed up, and then Blackberry grew pass them. But they had already beat Palm by 2006.

And they dropped the ball on that. Now they're having to play catch up.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I don't see Win Phones ever getting higher than a distant 3rd; and Zune HD 2 better have an app store or it'll fail like the first one did.

In phones being third is good: most carriers welcome a strong alternative to the duopoly. Several industry analysts have projected, since last year, that WinPhone could break through to number two in the 2015-16 time frame. At 30M units a year, Winphone is doing fine and a bit ahead of those projections.

Here:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/...s-ios-by-2016/

[fjtorres]

Nokia explains:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-576...but-necessary/

The decision to sell Nokia's devices and services division to Microsoft for $7.2 billion was a difficult choice, but market dynamics meant it was the only practical one, the Finnish company's outgoing CEO Stephen Elop and interim CEO Risto Siilasmaa said Tuesday.
"We need more combined muscle to truly break through with consumers," Elop said in a press conference in Espoo, Finland, where Nokia has its headquarters. "I share the frustration that comes from being so far behind two very large competitors," he added, referring to Apple's iOS Google's Android, but argued that "our goal of becoming the third ecosystem is becoming real."

The decision to sell off such a high-profile part of the company was "rational" but emotionally difficult, said Siilasmaa, who is chairman of Nokia's board of directors.
"It's evident Nokia doesn't have the resources to fund the required acceleration across mobile phones and smart devices," he said. "Nokia has done great work, however, the industry is becoming a duopoly with the leaders building significant momentum at a scale not seen before."

Of note, the "Bank of Microsoft" will be lending Nokia $1.5B over and beyond the $7.7B sale price. They really were cash-starved.

Microsoft also extended Nokia 1.5 billion euros ($2 billion) of credit, a deal that will go ahead even if the mobile-phone business unit fails. It's split into three 500-million euro tranches due to be paid back in five, six, and seven years

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

It seems an amazingly cheap price for a business that had annual revenues of over $50 billion just a couple of years ago, and still has a quarterly revenue of £7.5 billion.

For systems and other businesses. Their phone sales has been in decline since iPhone and Android was introduced. They haven't been able to make a tablet and so on. In Finland the deal is very emotional. They see it as an example of national decline. People not even connected with Nokia was choking up in TV interviews.

[afv011]

So job accomplished for Elop. He infiltrates a Nokia in dire need of some fresh blood and ideas and, rather than re-invigorating the company and bringing it back to its past glories, it effectively gives Nokia a coup de grace by stubbornly sticking to a dying Windows platform. Now that the job is done and Nokia's effectively killed off, he can go back to the motherland who'll receive him with open arms and offer him the CEO position. It's all played out for him after all, a master plan at work.

[pl001]

Originally Posted by afv011

So job accomplished for Elop. He infiltrates a Nokia in dire need of some fresh blood and ideas and, rather than re-invigorating the company and bringing it back to its past glories, it effectively gives Nokia a coup de grace by stubbornly sticking to a dying Windows platform. Now that the job is done and Nokia's effectively killed off, he can go back to the motherland who'll receive him with open arms and offer him the CEO position. It's all played out for him after all, a master plan at work.

Windows is dying? Sales numbers indicate otherwise. What makes you think Nokia could have had more success without Microsoft? The only company making money on Android right now is Samsung.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by afv011

So job accomplished for Elop. He infiltrates a Nokia in dire need of some fresh blood and ideas and, rather than re-invigorating the company and bringing it back to its past glories, it effectively gives Nokia a coup de grace by stubbornly sticking to a dying Windows platform. Now that the job is done and Nokia's effectively killed off, he can go back to the motherland who'll receive him with open arms and offer him the CEO position. It's all played out for him after all, a master plan at work.

...ya know, that thought crossed my mind too.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

...ya know, that thought crossed my mind too.

Try this thought:
http://www.zdnet.com/the-case-agains...e589&ttag=e589

Some folks think Elop's return to MS will be short.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by pl001

Windows is dying? Sales numbers indicate otherwise. What makes you think Nokia could have had more success without Microsoft? The only company making money on Android right now is Samsung.

Nokia always had solid hardware. Had they paired that with a decent OS, they would have had a fighting chance to succeed in the post-Symbian era. But sticking to a rigid platform (initially Windows Phone was very restrictive on what resolutions, memory and what not was allowed) meant that they lagged behind while the competition ran away with more and more innovative devices. Now it's too late for Nokia, they just became the latest of Microsoft's victims, a list which keeps growing. I could dig up my post, but I said it in the day, getting in bed with Microsoft is a sure way to the grave.

[Fbone]

A good way for Microsoft to use its foreign reserves. Buy a non-US based company. Like they did with Skype. I bet tax-wise this purchase was essentially free.

They licensed the Nokia name for 10 years.

Nokia committed corporate suicide by sticking with Symbian for most of their phones. Nokia's glory days were in the pre-smartphone era. They are about the only manufacturer that agreed to make Windows Mobile phones, so had anyone else bought them MS would have been SOL.

[pl001]

Originally Posted by afv011

Nokia always had solid hardware. Had they paired that with a decent OS, they would have had a fighting chance to succeed in the post-Symbian era. But sticking to a rigid platform (initially Windows Phone was very restrictive on what resolutions, memory and what not was allowed) meant that they lagged behind while the competition ran away with more and more innovative devices. Now it's too late for Nokia, they just became the latest of Microsoft's victims, a list which keeps growing. I could dig up my post, but I said it in the day, getting in bed with Microsoft is a sure way to the grave.

We all know the only other "decent OS" option out there for them was Android. Which as I mentioned before, nobody is making money off of except Samsung, who already had a huge head start on Nokia in that market. I seriously doubt Nokia could have found much success there.

Nokia was already off the cliff before Microsoft came calling. They have now stabilized and are growing in the WP market, which they pretty much own. Not a terrible outcome considering where they were.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by pl001

They have now stabilized and are growing in the WP market, which they pretty much own. Not a terrible outcome considering where they were.

Considering that other manufacturers are dumping the platform, Nokia are effectively owing the platform, a burning one at that.

They also had Maemo and Meego, it was a long shot, yes, but they did not have to go with Android, but going with Android would have given them the best chance at survival. As said, their hardware's always been good, and Android is well established, so you have a large population to tap into. Nobody's saying it would be easy, but then again, going with Microsoft hasn't turned out to be the bed or roses Elop hinted it'd be, has it? When you have to sell the company, I hardly call that "stabilized".

[pl001]

Originally Posted by afv011

Considering that other manufacturers are dumping the platform, Nokia are effectively owing the platform, a burning one at that.

They also had Maemo and Meego, it was a long shot, yes, but they did not have to go with Android, but going with Android would have given them the best chance at survival. As said, their hardware's always been good, and Android is well established, so you have a large population to tap into. Nobody's saying it would be easy, but then again, going with Microsoft hasn't turned out to be the bed or roses Elop hinted it'd be, has it? When you have to sell the company, I hardly call that "stabilized".

Again, WP is steadily growing in sales and market share. They have displaced Blackberry as the #3 OS and it is predicted that by 2015 or 16 they will be #2. That's hardly a "burning" platform.

HTC, Motorola, and Sony are all failing with Android despite some excellent hardware. Even Samsung is about to release Tizen, which they hope will be in all their smart devices at some point.

You complain that making deals with Microsoft is a deathwish. There may be some truth to that, but one can find similar examples with Google. There are also companies thriving after Microsoft takeovers even as they lose their original identities. After Microsoft bought a local business software company I had the same misgivings I'm sure much of Finland has right now. But 13 years later they are larger and more stable than ever and have been a great asset to the community.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by pl001

They have displaced Blackberry as the #3 OS and it is predicted that by 2015 or 16 they will be #2.

Wow, displacing Blackberry after they shot themselves in the foot, great achievement there! I think it's more accurate to say that Blackberry have fallen behind microsoft than to say microsoft have overtaken them. And for the #2 in 2015,