Microsoft acquires Nokia
It is all change for the Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia, as Microsoft has just put the finishing touches to a deal to purchase the device division.
Microsoft has purchased the smartphone and mobile phone arms of Nokia in a deal worth $7.5 billion; Microsoft has also acquired the design team, manufacturing operations and facilities, and sales and marketing expertise.
Nokia has been a well-known name in the mobile phone industry for years, with much of this time spent as a market leader; however, the company will no longer be producing mobile phones. The peak of its success came in 2008, when it had a 40% share of the market.
Nokia now plans to turn its focus to networks, the development of technology and mapping services, and licences. It will offer more information on its future plans at the end of the month when details of its first quarter earnings are revealed.
As a result of the deal, Microsoft will be taking over 25,000 employees of Nokia in around 50 countries. In Finland alone there are 4,000 employees who now come under the Microsoft banner. Microsoft will also be taking over the company’s HQ building in Helsinki.
The deal has seen Nokia’s share price rise by 1.5% in Helsinki. Stephen Elop, the Microsoft executive who used to be CEO at Nokia, has stated that the aim is for Microsoft to deliver both devices and services and the deal to take over these sections of Nokia will allow it to achieve this. Nokia and Microsoft have previously worked together to develop the Lumia range of handsets.