Microsoft reportedly held talks with Nokia this month to discuss buying the Finnish vendor’s handset business but was unable to agree a deal.
The advanced negotiations between the two mobile partners faltered over issues including price and Nokia’s…
Microsoft reportedly held talks with Nokia this month to discuss buying the Finnish vendor’s handset business but was unable to agree a deal.
The advanced negotiations between the two mobile partners faltered over issues including price and Nokia’s slumping market position, reported the Wall Street Journal.
Citing one source, the report added that these talks were unlikely to be revived.
Nokia and Microsoft declined to comment.
Rumours that a merger could be on the cards have been doing the rounds ever since the companies entered a strategic partnership in 2011, which, in an effort to combat competition from Apple and Google, sees Nokia only using Windows Phone software to power its smartphones.
The increasingly difficult market place, coupled with pressure from rivals in Asia, has caused Nokia to be the subject of much takeover speculation over the years.
In June 2011, Elop shrugged off rumours of an impending takeover by South Korea’s Samsung as “baseless”, telling the Open Mobile Summit then that Nokia was not for sale.
But the company was subject to similar speculation only this week, when an executive of China’s Huawei was quoted saying it would be open to acquiring Nokia if it was selling.
The media frenzy that followed the comments by Richard Yu, chairman of Huawei’s consumer business group, forced the Chinese company to insist it had no plans to acquire the Finnish vendor.
