Nokia-Microsoft Deal Gets Signed • Hacker News Board

Re: Nokia-Microsoft Deal Gets Signed

#21

Post by ghshephard » Thu, Apr 21, 2011, 5:39 PM UTC

hollerith wrote: post #2

Let me see if I have this right: the CEO of Nokia very publicly declares that he is going to bet the company on WP7 weeks before finalizing a deal for WP7. Didn't the very public declaration, which IIRC caused resignations by engineers working on Symbian and Meego, radically weaken Nokia's negotiating position? I must be missing something because it is unlikely that the leadership of a major corporation would be that…

I've been involved in an $1B+ acquisition that stretched out over 12 months. The initial deal, that was announced publicly, had language of the form "All assest required to run the subsidiary will be transferred to the acquiring company." The next 3-6 months required us to determine exactly what was actually purchased. And finally, the last 6 months was us transferring those assets.

The CEO doesn't get involved in the line item details - just announces the high level strategic decisions.

There is a likely some perceived value, to both Microsoft and Nokia, in communicating this strategy to the market/developers/partners - I'm not sure _what_ that value is, mind you, but that would be one reason why the high level deal was announced before all the nitty gritty details were inked.

Re: Nokia-Microsoft Deal Gets Signed

#22

Post by 1337p337 » Thu, Apr 21, 2011, 5:58 PM UTC

rajuvegesna wrote: post #18

This deal sounds very similar to MS-Yahoo deal. Abandon your existing technology, rely on competitors tech and expect growth. We have seen how MS-Yahoo deal played out this week. It won't be long before Nokia realized what they got into. By then, it'll be too late.

It looks that way, which is pretty sad. I'm typing this on my beloved N900, which I found far more usable and open than Android (which I kicked when it wouldn't stop screaming "CLOUD! CLOUD!" at me, and Eric Schmidt kept coming into my house at night to smell my hair).

Seriously, though, there are only two real competitors, Apple and Google, in the smartphone market, which is unfortunate for everyone. Windows phones have been floundering, WebOS seems to have lost traction, and Blackberries are...Blackberry who? I hope we're not entering the Dark Ages of Mobile Phones.

Re: Nokia-Microsoft Deal Gets Signed

#23

Post by evanhanson » Thu, Apr 21, 2011, 6:14 PM UTC

1337p337 wrote: post #22

rajuvegesna wrote: post #18

This deal sounds very similar to MS-Yahoo deal. Abandon your existing technology, rely on competitors tech and expect growth. We have seen how MS-Yahoo deal played out this week. It won't be long before Nokia realized what they got into. By then, it'll be too late.

It looks that way, which is pretty sad. I'm typing this on my beloved N900, which I found far more usable and open than Android (which I kicked when it wouldn't stop screaming "CLOUD! CLOUD!" at me, and Eric Schmidt kept coming into my house at night to smell my hair). Seriously, though, there are only two real competitors, Apple and Google, in the smartphone market, which is unfortunate for everyone. Windows phones…

I've been waiting a long time for the successor to the N900. It's sad it'll never happen, and that there's nothing similar on the horizon (especially with Maemo/Moblin/MeeGo floundering).

Re: Nokia-Microsoft Deal Gets Signed

#24

Post by misterbwong » Thu, Apr 21, 2011, 6:41 PM UTC

Am I the only one that sees this as a good thing?

Nokia gets an reasonably well made OS to replace its own, widely criticized, OS. Nokia instantly becomes the one of (if not the) largest WP7 vendor, thus giving it way more negotiating power than if they were to adopt Android.

Microsoft gets the largest handset maker to adopt an OS that is struggling to gain traction, instantly upping their credibility in the market.

The rest of us get a legitimate third player in a smartphone market dominated by iOS and Android.

Re: Nokia-Microsoft Deal Gets Signed

#25

Post by GoodIntentions » Thu, Apr 21, 2011, 8:13 PM UTC

misterbwong wrote: post #24

Am I the only one that sees this as a good thing? Nokia gets an reasonably well made OS to replace its own, widely criticized, OS. Nokia instantly becomes the one of (if not the ) largest WP7 vendor, thus giving it way more negotiating power than if they were to adopt Android. Microsoft gets the largest handset maker to adopt an OS that is struggling to gain traction, instantly upping their credibility in the market.…

no, you are not the only one.

Managed correctly I don't see how this won't benefit each party. Nokia makes good phones. The software, less good. Microsoft has tonnes of experience creating user interfaces that are user friendly.

I'm a long time linux guy who uses a 6 year old Samsung dumb phone, but I bought NOK and MSFT after the initial announcement. No guarantees in this world, but I think it was a good bet.

Re: Nokia-Microsoft Deal Gets Signed

#26

Post by sethg » Thu, Apr 21, 2011, 8:39 PM UTC

pohl wrote: post #12

endtime wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you unpack 'was installed'? Microsoft doesn't have the ability to appoint Nokia's CEO.

Of course they wouldn't have the ability to appoint at will, but they certainly could install opportunistically. You start by spotting someone who manages their career in a way that indicates useful skills and mindset: http://www.siliconbeat.com/2008/01/11/microsoft-beware-steph... ...then you make them a high-valued member of your senior leadership team... http://www.crunchbase.com/person/stephen-elop ...then when o…

In your opinion, if there were no “under-the-table quid-pro-quo deal” giving Elop an incentive to make a deal with Microsoft, what would he (or another CEO) have done instead?

The Nokia board fired the previous CEO because, well, his pet strategy was failing. So some kind of radical shakeup was needed. The two most obvious alternatives were “get in bed with Microsoft” and “get in bed with Google”. While Google doesn’t need Nokia’s help promoting Android, Microsoft desperately needs some major player to support Windows Mobile. Therefore Nokia is in a better negotiating position w.r.t. Microsoft than w.r.t. Google.

Re: Nokia-Microsoft Deal Gets Signed

#27

Post by yuhong » Fri, Apr 22, 2011, 12:22 AM UTC

rajuvegesna wrote: post #18

This deal sounds very similar to MS-Yahoo deal. Abandon your existing technology, rely on competitors tech and expect growth. We have seen how MS-Yahoo deal played out this week. It won't be long before Nokia realized what they got into. By then, it'll be too late.

Don't forget MS-Corel too from 1999-2000. I have a submission about it.

Re: Nokia-Microsoft Deal Gets Signed

#28

Post by hollerith » Fri, Apr 22, 2011, 1:19 AM UTC

sethg wrote: post #7

hollerith wrote: post #2

Let me see if I have this right: the CEO of Nokia very publicly declares that he is going to bet the company on WP7 weeks before finalizing a deal for WP7. Didn't the very public declaration, which IIRC caused resignations by engineers working on Symbian and Meego, radically weaken Nokia's negotiating position? I must be missing something because it is unlikely that the leadership of a major corporation would be that…

Given the large number of people across both corporate bureaucracies that would be involved in negotiating the final deal (and in providing information that the negotiators would need), if they had tried to keep everything under wraps until the final agreement had been signed, there would have been no end of leaks. By pre-announcing the deal the CEO could at least put his own spin on what was going on.

Thanks.