Microsoft may soon end-up owning Nokia, but it doesn’t want to be the only game in (Windows Phone) town. Rather, it wants a live eco-system, consisting of a number of different handset makers from all around the world. And if it really wants to succeed – it should corner Samsung.
And that’s exactly what it’s apparently trying to do. According to Mobile-Review’s Eldar Murtazin, the Redmond giant is offering $1 billion to the Korean giant so it continues to make Windows Phone devices.
This, of course, is still a rumor but it does make a lot of sense. If Microsoft wants to stay relevant in the mobile game, it *must* have the world’s biggest phone maker on its side. The problem, however, is how to convince someone who makes a majority of its money from a competing platform (Android) while also working on its own operating system (Tizen). Then again, no matter how much money Sammy is making these days, an additional billion dollars could help it further improve its standing.
The upcoming CES in Las Vegas and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona should give us few answers to these (and some other) questions. Stay tuned…