Microsoft Buying Nokia’s Cellphone Business
All Things D reports that, in an attempt to compete with the duopoly of iOS and Android in the smartphone market, Microsoft will buy Nokia’s cellphone unit for nearly $5 billion and will license Nokia’s patents for another $2.18 billion, for a grand total of $7.17 billion. The move gives Microsoft the hardware portfolio and control it believes it needs to succeed in the phone business and lets Nokia focus on its remaining businesses in cellular networking equipment, location-based services, and other technologies, which accounted for roughly half the company’s 2012 sales.