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Nokia acquired by Microsoft

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Re: Nokia acquired by Microsoft

#411

Post by morkbot »

tlb wrote: post #119

The combined company makes a lot of sense and will be well-positioned to compete in mobile, blah blah. I'm sad, because Nokia stood for something: something I generally liked even though I didn't own one. As did Microsoft: something I disliked mildly, but that needed to exist. Now those two brands can't stand for two separate things any more. The combined company will stand for maximizing shareholder value through le…

Firefox OS might grow up into something serious in a year or two (but that's more of a hope than any prediction).

Re: Nokia acquired by Microsoft

#412

Post by simba-hiiipower »

tytso wrote: post #408

One thing which I haven't seen anyone mention yet. Nokia, like Skype, was a non-US company, which means Microsoft could use cash which is trapped in Europe. So you have to take the purchase price and discount it by as much as the US Corporate tax rate (which Microsoft would have to pay if the money was going to be repatriated back to the States, as would be needed if that cash was going to be used to pay dividends or…

yeah, in one of their releases they specifically mention the transaction will be completed using offshore funds.

and while i'd generally like to see some movement on policy to encourage large us-based multinationals to bring-home more of their offshore earnings (for reinvestment domestically), the current environment does play-out nicely for foreign m&a - which is at-least (in my opinion) a better use of funds than dividends and buybacks.

Re: Nokia acquired by Microsoft

#413

Post by jaakl »

This title is here more than 50% wrong. Microsoft bought Devices and Services business, and large portion of patents. This is about 50% of Nokia revenues, less than 50% of employees, and about 0% of the profits.

Re: Nokia acquired by Microsoft

#414

Post by threeseed »

hippiefahrzeug wrote: post #322
rayiner wrote: post #38

This is a great move. There is no money in being an Android vendor except if you're Samsung and are totally vertically integrated. With Windows Phone, Nokia and Microsoft at least have some hope of carving out a profitable stake in the market. Anecdotally, I'm very impressed with some of the new Lumias. I got a 620 to replace my stolen iPhone, and for $200 unlocked its phenomenal phone. The build quality makes a flag…

I think Elop's greatest achievement is to sell people the "There is no money in being an Android vendor"-lie. And people are actually buying it. WP market is much much smaller, so, by becoming a big player in this market, which Nokia achieved in very little time, they became in fact a big player in a market where there really is no money. Had they instead of this focused on becoming a big player in a market that actu…

Hilarious. How is that river of money working out for HTC, Sony, LG, Motorola ?

Re: Nokia acquired by Microsoft

#415

Post by Swannie »

bad_user wrote: post #309
mbreese wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When Elop was brought in, the board was clearly signaling that a turnaround from within was not going to happen. The Microsoft smartphone strategy was already in place and was going to happen. I have a lot of respect for Nokia, but they had the technology for the iPhone and iPad long before Apple (roughly), and they were never able to capitalize on it. Hell, I had an N770 in 2006 and it was great. But it wasn't even…

Wouldn't it be absolutely embarrassing if Firefox OS ends up capturing 5-10% of the market? And personally I think it will, just like I knew Nokia is dead after announcing their new Windows Phone strategy. Nokia is a textbook example of things not to do. All the talk about them not being able to deliver the iOS polish / experience is simply not true. That's not what killed them. What killed them is that they focused…

Not really embarrassing. FirefoxOS is standing on top of the success of Android... literally, it leverages all of the work on the Linux kernel, and all of the work the handset manufacturers have done in writing hardware drivers and exposing the API to Android.

Re: Nokia acquired by Microsoft

#416

Post by hauget »

Always loved #Nokia's design but hated their sw. One of my favorite designed phones EVER will always be the E71 http://bit.ly/14nbnC7 On that note, Microsoft should buy Blackberry too. Nokia design & hardware +WinPhone8 software +Blackberry's customers might be a winning combination.

Re: Nokia acquired by Microsoft

#417

Post by Karunamon »

Apocryphon wrote: post #89
IanChiles wrote: post #42

3 walled gardens is a very, very bad thing. Couple this with what Google's doing with the new Play Services and Motorola and with what Apple's been doing the entire time, and we could be in for a world of hurt when there are no "open" platforms (as in, for OEMs to build for).

2013 is the debut year of Firefox OS, Ubuntu Touch, Sailfish OS, and Samsung's supposed flagship Tizen phone. Now, the question is if carriers, consumers and OEMs will respond to them with any enthusiasm, or treat them like third parties in American politics.

That would depend entirely on how they present themselves. If those players decide to come off like Linux on the desktop does (where "open"-ness is the main selling point, something utterly irrelevant to people who aren't a particular breed of techie), nobody will care.

Nobody ever successfully sold a platform based on its political leanings.

Re: Nokia acquired by Microsoft

#418

Post by throwaway1979 »

macspoofing wrote: post #80
nestlequ1k wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it would be interesting to see if any MSFT shareholders are that dumb. Elop's idiocy destroyed Nokia, now let's sic him on Microsoft too.

Nokia, like RIM, Microsoft, and Palm, was caught with their pants down, TWICE. First with Apple's iPhone, then with Google's Android. Basically two tech companies with no presence in mobility, took the market away from the incumbents. In hindsight, when Elop took the CEO job, it was too late to fight the iOS and Android behemoths. What could have Elop done? Gone down the Blackberry route and try to have a competing p…

You make an interesting point. When I think back to the 2007, there was a huge buzz around what the iPhone would turn out to be. At that time, Nokia had some interesting R&D experiments such as the Nokia 770 tablet (followed by the n800 tablet). I worked with those devices from 06 and saw the UI improve at a steady but slow rate. The toolchain was very promising since it was just Linux+ARM. The UI chrome was called Maemo.

When Android first came out, I remember thinking how inferior it was compared to the Linux OS on the Nokia tablets. Nokia had the Symbian platform at that time... how can one fault them for not promoting the Linux based system then?

Re: Nokia acquired by Microsoft

#419

Post by throwawaykf02 »

throwawaykf02 wrote: post #216
corresation wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Microsoft's own press release makes clear that they are not buying any patents. They are buying a 10-year license to Nokia's patents. http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/2013/Sep13/09-02An... This is almost certainly to lubricate regulatory approval, and because it unleashes a Nokia patent monster upon the lands.

Why yes, you're right! I totally missed that. And your rationale makes sense as well. As for the Nokia patent monster, well... it's already been rampaging the countryside for a few months now. I haven't thought through the ramifications of this deal, but I wonder if it would allow them the same immunity that trolls enjoy?

Also, I just realized, the rampaging patent monster is another reason MS did not buy the patents outright. Nokia has active lawsuits against many companies and I doubt anybody wants to inherit that kind of baggage.
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