Technology pundits have long speculated that, one day, Microsoft would buy its way into manufacturing of its own mobile phones. Apparently that day came a lot closer to fruition than people had thought.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft was in “advanced talks” to acquire Finnish smartphone manufacturer Nokia before talks recently broke down. Nokia, which has a market valuation of $14 billion, would be a fairly easy pill for the cash-loaded Microsoft to swallow. The WSJ reports that Microsoft could have used some of its $66 billion in offshore accounts to acquire Nokia before talks stalled.
Since February 2011, Nokia has exclusively used Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system to power its smartphones. Nokia has produced a series of Windows Phone devices dubbed “Lumia,” the most recent of which — the Nokia Lumia 925 and Lumia 928 — it released this spring.
