Danske Bank, Denmark’s largest bank, has issued a report saying that Nokia will sell their smartphone unit to Microsoft during the first half of 2012. Aleksi Moisio, who reported this story in the Finnish news publication Taloussanomat, reminded me that “this rumor has been out there around for quite some time,” which leads me to believe that Danske Bank either knows something we don’t or they’re talking out of their ass. Nokia spokesperson Mona Kokkonen has of course denied the rumor, but that’s not really all too surprising for a rumor of this magnitude. Now assuming the deal does go through, what does Microsoft do with the Nokia brand? Do they sell Windows Phones as Microsoft Windows Phones or Nokia Windows Phones? Also, how will HTC and Samsung, both of which manufacture Windows Phones, feel about competing with the company that also licenses them software? Oh and one more thing, last month we reported that Nokia was going to introduce a Windows 8 tablet during the summer of 2012. Would Microsoft seriously start competing against other PC vendors such as ASUS, HP, and Lenovo?
On the flip side there’s Nokia’s logistical nightmares. Stephen Elop has already said that the company will invest more in feature phones than they ever have before, so does that mean Nokia will now associate themselves as the low cost device vendor of choice? If so then how are they going to compete with the likes of Huawei and ZTE, who are arguably doing a better job at making smartphones that cost less than $150?
Before you scroll down to the bottom of this article and leave me a nasty comment, stop and think for a second. When rumors first started flying around the internets that Nokia was going to partner with Microsoft, nearly everyone said that was never going to happen. That such a thing would be impossible. Now look, the Lumia 710 and Lumia 800 are already selling in a handful of countries.