14 DAY TRIAL // Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. Microsoft is believed to be one of the parties that could end up taking over part of Nokia’s business, according to a new report, as the software giant wants to become more active in the telecom space.
More specifically, a report from Forbes citing CBS Insight analysts indicates that Microsoft might explore a potential takeover of Nokia’s networking unit, especially as Huawei keeps struggling with problems caused by the sanctions announced by the United States government.
Microsoft has reportedly noticed the growing opportunity in this sector, and given the company is now focused on investing in products and services that could generate revenue in the long term, a possible takeover of Nokia’s networking business could be a potential way to go in the telecom industry.
“We feel that Nokia could be slightly vulnerable to an acquisition,” the cited analyst firm says.
“Microsoft has taken a real interest in the telecoms space. Already we’ve seen two acquisitions by them this year [Metaswitch and Affirmed Networks]... which is all about getting some expertise in the 5G and telco space and some contacts within industry. We believe Nokia could be a potential target for someone like Microsoft.”
Microsoft and Nokia
This wouldn’t be the first time Microsoft gets involved in Nokia’s business and takes over one of its units.
Back in 2013, the software giant paid more than $7 billion to take over the smartphone unit of the company, all because it wanted to full control over its Windows Phone smartphone efforts and the Lumia hardware push. This didn’t end well for Nokia, as Microsoft eventually killed off the phone head unit, with thousands of employees at the mobile company’s offices laid off.
Nokia managed to come back to life as an Android device maker, though it goes without saying it’s still not the strong player it was ten years ago.
Whether or not Nokia would make the same mistake twice is something that remains to be seen, but until then, take this report with a pinch of salt, as it’s nothing more than a forecast Microsoft could be exploring a potential deal.