Post date: Sep 04, 2013 1:46:38 AM
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/18290_Microsoft_to_acquire_Nokias_De.php
Well I hate to say "I told you so" but I did and if anyone thinks I didn't, just scroll back along this blog. This direction was "ordained" the moment Steve Elop did away with the parts of Nokia that were "different" from everyone else and the laws of Physics did the rest. I really wonder whether the board of Nokia realized that this would be the outcome because it was plain to nearly everyone else including me. Without the software that made Nokia phones different, Nokia was no different from other hardware manufacturers.
Now let's do some more crystal ball gazing. Does Microsoft really need Nokia? Then how in blazes did it manage to come out with 7 billion dollars for it? That's why its shares went down because I believe that Microsoft does not need Nokia and having Nokia would actually be disadvantageous for it. In the world of MBA theory, companies optimize themselves over their business line. So Microsoft optimizes over software. Nokia optimizes over hardware. So theoretically, a Nokia and Microsoft partnership of equals would see the best of both worlds. Now Nokia gets absorbed into a software company, Nokia or what is left of it, will not be optimizing hardware and again theoretically, this combination would be less effective. The Nokia / Microsoft partnership at its optimal did not achieve "world domination". So again the law of Physics holds here. Microsoft with Nokia under it will be even less successful then it now is.
Another separate but relevant point : Microsoft Surface. How successful has Microsoft Surface been? Why? This shows you the UPPER LIMIT of how successful new devices from Microsoft would be! Tablets are a sunrise sector and so the devices here command the highest margins, least competition and most interest from customers. Mobile smart phones are a more mature market. Windows 8 is already on the market. Nokia has already experimented with fancy mass market designs of mobile phones. Will the new Microsoft division magically come up with a "world conquering" design? And don't forget the two 800 lb gorillas in the room; Apple and Google.
Google may not be all focused on the mobile phone market but they stand there very ready to compete in any lucrative sector. So no, I don't think Nokia is a good acquisition for Microsoft and if MS really wanted to throw away 7 billion dollars for the hell of it, they should subsidize Surface prices which would really give Apple and Samsung something to worry about.