FollowMicrosoft is now planning to expand its wings further by acquiring Nokia’s devices division which includes all the smartphones, patents and services. This seems to be a very powerful move to compete with Apple, Samsung and Google. The deal has come at a price of $7.2 billion and it became public late Monday.
Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop who once worked for Microsoft before joining Nokia in 2010 will be rejoining Microsoft as the CEO of the company. He will be replacing the existing CEO Steve Ballmer who is planning to retire soon. Interestingly, when Elop became the CEO of Nokia, the Finnish company went through a disastrous phase for three years. Its market share was hit very dearly. In fact, investors were of the view that the company would not survive and finally it is happening.
In 2011, when Nokia was unable to keep with the competition from the likes of Samsung, Apple and other brands, Elop made the controversial move of partnering with Microsoft to produce Windows Phone operating system powered Lumia phones. The Lumia phones are doing well in the market but still it has not been able to bring back the company into competitive stance. Unlike other handset manufacturing companies like Samsung, Sony, HTC and so on, Nokia did not opt for Android OS but solely relied on Windows Phone OS.
In 2007, Nokia had forty percent of the market share but that stats have come down to less than fifteen percent. Microsoft is going to go through a evolving phase this year because more and more people are using smartphones and tablets and the demand for desktop PCs are going down considerably. Microsoft is now trying to penetrate into a market that is being ruled by Apple and Google.
The news about the acquisition of Nokia has come at the same time when Microsoft is also thinking of hiring a new CEO. It has only ten days since Steve Ballmer that he will be retiring within the forthcoming year. Many tech experts are of the view that Microsoft is very much in need of fresh blood to reorganize their business.
With Nokia also coming under the wings of Microsoft, the software giant has got pretty much of everything under one roof. Microsoft has got Xbox which has not only a gaming console but a complete home entertainer. It has got a new line tablets under the Surface brand name. And now after acquiring Lumia, it will also be offering Windows Phone OS powered smartphones. Experts feel that even the Lumia phones will be rebranded as Surface handsets.
Microsoft currently has 99,000 employees onboard and after the acquisition, 32,000 employees of Nokia will join Microsoft. The details of the acquisition deal will be made public by Nokia during a news conference that will be held on Tuesday at Finland.
What do you think about the acquisition? Will the move really metamorphose Microsoft into real competitive brand? Can the acquisition become any threat for Apple or Samsung? Do let us know what you think of the deal.
