Wall Street is apparently pleased with Nokia’s decision to sell its handset division to Microsoft. As noted by Time, the Finnish company’s stock surged almost 40 percent after the acquisition was announced. As of the writing of this post, Nokia’s stock has climbed to $5.08, a 30% gain. In contrast, the response to Microsoft’s decision to take on the struggling handset business has not been as favorable. Microsoft’s stock has taken a hit, falling 6 percent to $31.42 at the time of the writing of this post.
Though interesting, we shouldn’t be reading too much into these changes as they reflect a knee jerk reaction to the press releases. It remains to be seen what will happen to Windows Phone in the long run. Microsoft’s mobile OS is sitting squarely in third place, far behind market leaders Android and iOS. It’s momentum with the Lumia 1020 is decent, but the OS is not gaining ground on its two bigger competitors. I also don’t have to remind you how the last mobile phone acquisition turned out for Microsoft. Remember Danger and its prodigy the Kin?
[Via Time]