More Nokia buyout rumors... this time not Huawei, but Microsoft

[a5cent]

According to a WSJ article, Microsoft recently held advanced talks with Nokia about buying its handset business.

 

[stmav]

Pssst, it was a news story yesterday on the front page. WSJ: Microsoft and Nokia were close to a buyout deal, but talks broke down | Windows Phone Central

 

[a5cent]

Pssst, it was a news story yesterday on the front page. WSJ: Microsoft and Nokia were close to a buyout deal, but talks broke down | Windows Phone Central

damn, missed that.

Feel free to delete this thread. Wanted to inform, not discuss, but obviously old news... Sry.

 

[Bartdog]

damn, missed that.

Feel free to delete this thread. Wanted to inform, not discuss, but obviously old news... Sry.

somehow I missed that, too. Just heard it on the WSJ podcast and was like "why wasn't that on wpc?" I check this site every couple of hours during the day, and at least once at night. If this was posed at 5:30, I don't know how I missed it.

WSJ: Microsoft Recently in Talks to Buy Nokia

 

[Noahma]

This was a story several times this past year.

 

[a5cent]

This was a story several times this past year.

I don't think so. IMHO Joe Shmoe thinking it might be a good idea for MS to buy Nokia isn't the same as the WSJ reporting that MS actually wants to. AFAIK that hasn't happened before.

 

[Noahma]

The Not-So-Crazy Rumors About Microsoft Taking Over Nokia’s Smartphone Division Resurface | TechCrunch
Rumor: Microsoft to buy Nokia | Mobile | Geek.com
Rumor: Microsoft to buy Nokia smartphone division in 2012 - TechSpot
Microsoft is eying to buy Nokia [Rumors]

There are four articles spanning from 2010 to 2012 Every few months these articles pop up.

 

[a5cent]

1. The Not-So-Crazy Rumors About Microsoft Taking Over Nokia?s Smartphone Division Resurface | TechCrunch
2. Rumor: Microsoft to buy Nokia | Mobile | Geek.com
3. Rumor: Microsoft to buy Nokia smartphone division in 2012 - TechSpot
4. Microsoft is eying to buy Nokia [Rumors]

Yes, those exemplify pretty much exactly what I was talking about:

1. This article is based on a rumour that was birthed by an individual tech blogger, but that blogger offered nothing to back his claims up with.
2. This article that does nothing but parrot the rumour just mentioned (see 1)
3. This article is based on nothing more than the speculation that came about when an analyst at Danske Bank said: "a deal between Nokia and Microsoft makes sense". Nothing in the article suggests Microsoft or Nokia were actually planning to do so (except the click-bait headline).
4. The very first word in that article is "Rumour", which is repeated throughout.

At least to my mind, none of that is comparable with the statement:

"last Monday, Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer and Nokia CEO Steven Elop spent the day discussing a potential merger between their two companies". Like I said, AFAIK, this was the first and only time such a report was more than mere speculation.

 

[Noahma]

Unless there is an official statement, it is all just rumor. The only thing different between the new article is the lack of mentioning a source for the info.

 

[a5cent]

Unless there is an official statement, it is all just rumor. The only thing different between the new article is the lack of mentioning a source for the info.

True, but I guess I trust the WSJ more than I do some random blogger. Make of it what you will.