Nokia, the Finnish mobile brand that has been dominant in the technological field for just under a decade, has been bought out by Microsoft for £4.6bn.
The mobile giant has moved from market domination to sell-off in less than ten years, landmarked by the agreed sale of the brand a couple of days ago. The purchase, which is due to go ahead in early 2014, will help Microsoft catch up with other technological giants such as Samsung and Apple, who have been much quicker and more advanced in the mobile market previously.
Microsoft has struggled in the mobile industry so far as consumers are more likely to opt for smartphones and tablets rather than traditional PCs. Experts claim the company was too slow in reacting to the huge boom in the mobile market, and played it safe when the mobile revolution first took off.
Recognising that mobile is an area of huge potential, the firm plans to get their strategy right in this area before launching anything new. Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer admitted that “We have more work to do to expand the range of applications on our product.”
Nokia was once market leaders in the mobile phone industry, but phones sales dropped by over a quarter on last year, with the firm’s overall sales falling by 24%. According to experts, the deal between the two companies should bring the hardware closer to its original operating system and therefore have a tighter integration.
Nokia started its business in the late 1800s, and would spend the next century making tyres, boots and cables. By 1987, the firm launched its first mobile phone which weighed nearly 1kg. The mobile phone company is a great example in how quickly the smartphone industry has boomed, since just 26 years later they launched their Lumia 1020 which boasted a 41 megapixel camera.
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