What if Samsung buys controlling interest of Nokia?

[snowmutt]

Came across this story, and I felt it was worth bringing up:

Nokia shares soar 6% in Finland on rumor of Samsung bid

Two quick observations:
1) This makes way more sense than any Microsoft buying Nokia rumor. Samsung has deep enough pockets, has a very ambitious desire to own every aspect of the markets they are in, could use Nokia's patents, and is already a worldwide hardware company that could make Nokia an efficient company. Throw in that the first steps of restructuring is being accomplished by Nokia (the shedding of Symbian, the trimming of layers of management and redundant jobs, streamlining production), and this may be unlikely, but not impossible.

2). So far, no denial from Nokia or Samsung has been issued.

Without meaning to say I think it will happen, just hypothetical: Good or bad Thing? How does WP fit into this idea? How do other manufacturers respond?

This kind of stuff opens so many avenues of discussion!!

 

[Silverdogz]

I think with Samsung's power behind Nokia it will be good for WP7. I also believe that WP7 phones will be under Nokia and androids under samsung.

 

[gorebashd]

I don't think Microsoft would ever let Samsung fully buy Nokia while they are in a partnership unless said deal transferred and was unbreakable

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

 

[cgk]

Unless Microsoft are willing to bid, nothing they could do about it and unless they change how they behave they are not going to do that because of channel conflict.

Sent from my Lumia 800 using Board Express

 

[freestaterocker]

Unless Microsoft are willing to bid, nothing they could do about it and unless they change how they behave they are not going to do that because of channel conflict.

Sent from my Lumia 800 using Board Express

If this turns out to be legit, MS can and WILL bid, and their pockets are MUCH deeper than Samsungs.

 

[MattLFC]

1) This makes way more sense than any Microsoft buying Nokia rumor. Samsung has deep enough pockets

Are you suggesting Microsoft's pockets aren't deep enough??

If Nokia buy Samsung, they'd be doing it for one reason alone, to acquire IP, and to kill off a competitor. Nokia would be wiped out in the phone industry overnight... either that, or just converted to Androids and used as a budget brand.

Microsoft would likely fight tooth and nail to prevent Samsung from purchasing Nokia, because they would stand to make a huge loss if WP goes tits-up.

Regardless of which, the likelyhood of such a deal being approved in the EU or the US is remote, given the size/marketshare of Samsung and the size/marketshare of Nokia.

 

[Dave Blake]

Samsung doesn't need Nokia. If Samsung is in the market to but Nokia I would be worried that it would only be to eliminate the competition. Nokia does have some juicy patents and some very good personnel this could be added to Samsungs arsenal and increase it dominance in the smart phone field. I fear a purchase would spell the end for Nokia.

 

[ninjaap]

I don't want anyone to buy Nokia. I want to see what they have in store for us. I want to see them finish what they started.

 

[Corepc]

I think Sammy just want's Nokia Designs since they are so much different..Sammy has run out of designs to keep on using over and over again..:lol:

Microsoft would fight for those patents rights if it came down to it..

 

[theefman]

No doubt, it would mean the end of WP. Samsung doesn't care for WP now, after spending billions they will just turn everything to android and forget WP completely. Microsoft would be fools to let this happen without a fight.

 

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

If this happened then it could mean HTC gets top position back in WP 7. And I think they could keep WP alive. Of course, losing Nokia would be catastrophic as it would just harm all consumers as there is one less unique competitor in the smartphone market.

 

[Mr_pither]

Nokia appstore on my Focus S!

 

[HeyCori]

Don't worry. If Microsoft loses Nokia they still have Danger.

 

[snowmutt]

@MattLFC - of course Microsoft has deep enough pockets. I agree with other posters that MS has deeper pockets. But Samsung is a company with deep enough pockets to make this work if they truly wanted to make it happen. I also feel Sammy as a hardware company could make Nokia's assets work, as opposed to MS which is primarily a software company (XBOX and their failed Zune player and Kin phones excepted). The did is better.

I disagree with those that think Samsung would just shutter Nokia if this happened. Nokia is still a worldwide name, and has a ton of value. Their Lumina series has tons of respect by those in the know. And Samsung loves the idea of Windows RT on tablets, so why wouldn't they support WP on Nokia branded phones, just under their corporate umbrella.

 

[sinime]

Don't worry. If Microsoft loses Nokia they still have Danger.

Lol

 

[oldgaius]

@MattLFC - of course Microsoft has deep enough pockets. I agree with other posters that MS has deeper pockets. But Samsung is a company with deep enough pockets to make this work if they truly wanted to make it happen. I also feel Sammy as a hardware company could make Nokia's assets work, as opposed to MS which is primarily a software company (XBOX and their failed Zune player and Kin phones excepted). The did is better.

I disagree with those that think Samsung would just shutter Nokia if this happened. Nokia is still a worldwide name, and has a ton of value. Their Lumina series has tons of respect by those in the know. And Samsung loves the idea of Windows RT on tablets, so why wouldn't they support WP on Nokia branded phones, just under their corporate umbrella.

Yes, I think they would continue the Lumia brand running Windows Phone alongside their Galaxy brand running Android.

 

[theefman]

Yes, I think they would continue the Lumia brand running Windows Phone alongside their Galaxy brand running Android.

I wonder why anyone thinks this. Samsung has shown very little interest in WP at the moment, why would a multi billion acquisition change that? Makes much more sense for them to focus any Nokia assets towards their preferred platform, android. And HTC, another company with lackluster WP support can hardly be expected to suddenly deliver Nokia levels of commitment to the platform. No, I think if this pans out WP is dead.

 

[jdevenberg]

I think they would keep Nokia alive, but shift them to Android. Nokia has huge name recognition in not the USA and people love Android, so Nokia Android phones would sell by the barrel full in other countries.

I don't think Microsoft would let this happen. If Samsung is bidding to buy Nokia, I think Microsoft will outbid them. Samsung doesn't see money in Windows Phone or they would but more effort into their Windows Phones. Spending billions on purchasing Nokia isn't going to change this. They will want that investment to turn into profits as quickly as possible, and honestly that would be by using Nokia as a low-mid range Android line. Plus Nokia could even use Android to replace series 40. Motorola made a non-Smart Android based phone. It didn't have wifi, a touch screen, and wasn't branded as Android, but you could tell by looking it was Android based and every then and again threw up a system error that would say something revealing like "System: Android has failed". This is the path that makes financial sense for a Samsung owned Nokia. Nokia went with Windows Phone over Android to differentiate themselves from the competition. Samsung won't care about that, they will care about the almighty dollar.

 

[jalb]

There would probably be anti-trust issues.

 

[Jeff Kibuule]

There would probably be anti-trust issues.

I'm surprised it took so long for that to come up. It's usually a no-no for the #1 phone maker (Samsung) to buy the #2 phone maker (Nokia) because of the sheer number of phones both companies sell.