What just happened? Did it finally happen? Nokia has just been bought by Microsoft. At least the part of Nokia that directly impacts the hardware in your hand. For 7.2 billion dollars, Microsoft has just bought Nokia’s Devices and Services unit, the part that makes your beautiful Lumia running Windows Phone. It will also license Nokia’s patents and use their mapping services. Why? Here’s why according to Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer and Nokia’s Stephen Elop.
A joint blog post between the two has been published on TechNet. It marks today as a moment of reinvention for the goals of a computer on every desk and a phone in every pocket. It was just a month and a half ago that Microsoft started the transition to a “devices and services” company. So what’s going to happen to Microsoft and Nokia during and after this transition?
For Nokia, the part of Nokia that Microsoft didn’t buy, they’ll focus on networking, mapping and location, and finally other advance technologies. Microsoft bought the Devices and Services unit of Nokia, which includes over 32,000 people that will be now joining Microsoft.
For Microsoft, this move starts them towards their future as a devices and services company. One that not only builds experiences, but the portals to those experiences. This move will help get Nokia hardware into the hands of even more people as the two giants merge.
Microsoft and Nokia also put out a slide detailing more rationale behind the move. Here’s why the two have decided to join together.
- Accelerate share and profits in phones
- Create first rate Windows Phone experience for its users
- Prevent Google and Apple from foreclosing app innovation, integration, distribution and economics
- Prepare for the financial opportunity that will be fueled by a growing smartphone market
So why did Microsoft buy Nokia? To build devices and redefine the boundaries of mobility.
What do you guys make of all this?
Source: TechNet, Via: AllThingsD
