Microsoft Acquires Nokia Mobile Business Friday
The transaction is scheduled to close on Friday.
Brad Smith, General Counsel & Executive Vice President, Legal & Corporate Affairs at Microsoft, announced on the TechNet blog that Microsoft has completed the steps necessary to purchase the Devices and Services business from Nokia. The transaction will be completed by Friday, he said.
"The completion of this acquisition follows several months of planning and will mark a key step on the journey towards integration. This acquisition will help Microsoft accelerate innovation and market adoption for Windows Phones. In addition, we look forward to introducing the next billion customers to Microsoft services via Nokia mobile phones."
"As with any multinational agreement of this size, scale and complexity, our two companies have made adjustments to the original deal throughout the close preparation process. We've entered into numerous agreements to address items ranging from manufacturing to IT," Smith added.
The first deal is that Microsoft will now manage the nokia.com domain and social media sites for a year. Microsoft also plans to let 21 employees in China working on mobile phones join Microsoft and continue their work. Microsoft also now has no plans to acquire Nokia's Korean manufacturing facility.
In a separate report, website NokiaPowerUser (NPU) supposedly acquired a leaked letter from Microsoft to its suppliers, reporting that Nokia Oyj will have a new name as of Friday.
"Please note that upon the close of the transaction between Microsoft and Nokia, the name of Nokia Corporation/Nokia Oyj will change to Microsoft Mobile Oy. Microsoft Mobile Oy is the legal entity name that should be used for VAT IDs and for the issuance of invoices," the letter reads.
Microsoft's letter also notes that the company will assume "all rights, benefits and obligations of the Nokia Devices and Services business, including Nokia's agreements with suppliers, customers and partners which pertain to the Devices and Services business." The company also asks that suppliers continue doing business with Nokia's remaining businesses, NSN, HERE or Advanced Technologies, after Friday's transaction.
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Microsoft revealed its intentions to purchase the Devices and Services division of Nokia Corporation back in September 2013, as well as license Nokia Corp's patents, and license and use Nokia's mapping services. The $7.2 billion deal was expected to close during the first quarter of this year, but was pushed up to April due to a delay in Asia's antitrust reviews of the transaction.
Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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spartanmk2 And there was a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.Reply -
Shin-san This will be the test to see if Microsoft is the Microsoft of the 90s, or the Microsoft we know of today, where good ideas go to dieReply -
falchard This will alienate their partners further. Lets face it, Microsoft hardware is shit with poor reliability. The best thing Microsoft had going for it is they did not care about hardware, only software. So they paired a good OS with good hardware.Reply
Alienating hardware partners means Microsoft will be making most of the Windows Phone hardware which as a consumer is not something I wish to purchase. -
vaughn2k "... and may the Force be with you... always..." ... kidding aside, Lumia 925 seems to be a great phone, and it's camera (and software) is superb! Can't wait for the WP8.1 update... Sad news for Koreans, hope they would continue manufacturing phones for Nokia/Microsoft, they're better in quality, compared with their neighboring country...Reply -
tomfreak Reply"Please note that upon the close of the transaction between Microsoft and Nokia, the name of Nokia Corporation/Nokia Oyj will change to Microsoft Mobile Oy. Microsoft Mobile Oy is the legal entity name that should be used for VAT IDs and for the issuance of invoices," the letter reads.
If Microsoft Drop the nokia name and use Microsoft Mobile, I will not buy their product & abandon WP. Nokia is a powerful brand name in phone, please dont drop that name. -
jasonpwns ReplyThis will alienate their partners further. Lets face it, Microsoft hardware is shit with poor reliability. The best thing Microsoft had going for it is they did not care about hardware, only software. So they paired a good OS with good hardware.
Alienating hardware partners means Microsoft will be making most of the Windows Phone hardware which as a consumer is not something I wish to purchase.
What the heck are you talking about? The surface is one of the best quality tablets you can get in terms of build quality. I highly doubt the Lumias will drop in quality too. Tell me what microsoft hardware is bad? Aside from cheapo mice/keyboards. Which even logitech makes bad.